Dow Jones Hails Cost-Cutting Initiatives

NEW YORK: The business news and information provider Dow Jones & Company has achieved more than $100 million in cost savings in its first year as a News Corporation-owned entity.

Since December 2007, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review has identified more than $100 million in annual savings and expects to realize an additional $40 million in annual savings in the fiscal year ending June 2010. Key areas of cost reductions following the integration of Dow Jones with News Corp. included consolidating common services with sister News Corp. companies and common functions across Dow Jones businesses. Office space has been consolidated, especially in major media hubs such as New York and London, and certain functions in print production and other areas outsourced. So far, 3 of 17 production facilities have been closed and discussions are ongoing for partnerships for printing and delivery of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s in other regions. There have also been significant head-count reductions and salary freezes.

"Our success in finding savings allowed us to redeploy resources where it mattered most to readers and customers in this challenging business climate," said Les Hinton, the chief executive officer of Dow Jones & Company. "These actions have strengthened the company’s financial position so it can remain focused on improving the high quality news, insight and information that our audiences expect from Dow Jones."

Hinton continued: "We are re-allocating savings to enhance our news, editorial, information and digital applications so they become even more valuable in a world where quality content matters more now than ever."