MUMBAI: The Wall Street Journal has appointed Raju Narisetti as its Digital Network managing editor and the deputy managing editor of the News Corp-owned newspaper. He will report to deputy managing editor and executive editor, Online Alan Murray.
Narisetti currently serves as The Washington Post managing editor where he oversees the company’s digital content products, staff and strategy.
The appointment marks a return to the Journal for Narisetti, who first joined the paper in 1994 as a reporter in Pittsburgh and most recently served as Editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe in 2006.
Murray said, “Raju knows the world, knows digital journalism, and knows the Journal. He is the perfect person to lead us into a new era of global growth.”
Narisetti’s appointment follows the recent departure of WSJ.com managing editor Kevin Delaney.
WSJ’s digital news operations include WSJ.com, SmartMoney.com, MarketWatch and the Chinese, Japanese and German-language editions of WSJ.com.
Dow Jones editor-in-chief Robert Thomson said, “Raju has done remarkable work as the digital czar at the Washington Post, integrating print and online businesses, building a successful web site, and developing key relationships with the digerati. His experience in creating Mint, a national web site and newspaper in India, also brings important relationships and unique expertise that will assist us as we expand our global digital network. Raju is wired, and we are jazzed.”
Born in 1966, Narisetti has been a journalist for over 22 years, and has spent most of his work life at the Wall Street Journal in US and Europe. In his earlier stint at the Journal, he was editor of its European edition and also served as deputy managing editor of its US edition.
Narisetti began his life in India, and after his journalism studies went on to do his masters in journalism from Indiana University in the US in 1991. Between 2006-2008, Narisetti was the editor of Mint, India’s newest and fastest growing business newspaper. Mint’s parent company, HT Media Ltd, is also the publisher of the English daily Hindustan Times as also the Hindi paper Hindustan. Narisetti was the Editor of Mint until end-2008 before moving on to join the Post.
The Wall Street Journal Digital Network has seen growth in recent years with the introduction of expanded news coverage, content and new products as well as increased usage across its Web sites, mobile applications and tablet editions. The network has more than 1.3 million paid digital subscribers across multiple platforms and devices, and averages more than 50 million visitors per month online.
WSJ.com’s success has been buoyed by an expansion in politics, national and world news, sports and lifestyle coverage, as well as live and on-demand video, real-time blogs and the launch of premium verticals. WSJ.com generated a 42 per cent year-over-year increase in traffic in 2011, averaging more than 36 million visitors per month worldwide.
The new WSJ Live interactive video application is already available to millions of users via the iPad and multiple Internet-connected televisions and set-top boxes.
Globally, more than 30 per cent of the total digital audience comes from outside the US including Asia, which generates more than 11 million visitors per month, and nearly six million from Europe, Middle East and Africa. In 2011, traffic to the Journal’s Chinese- and Japanese-language Web sites increased by 38 and 150 per cent, respectively.
To further serve its expanding global audience, the Journal and Dow Jones have launched a series of regionally focused digital initiatives – the most recent of which, a German-language news site (WSJ.de), launched earlier this month. Other regional offerings are available, including China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe.
