Robert Thomson, former Times editor, was appointed managing editor of the Wall Street Journal Tuesday night, the Guardian reported Wednesday.

Thomson will have the top editorial position at the Journal and he will be replacing Marcus Brauchli, who quit in April over disapproval over the rapid changes taking place following Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation's US$5.2 billion takeover of the paper in December.

“Mr. Thomson's outstanding career as a financial journalist, foreign correspondent and editor equips him perfectly for the position,” Murdoch, said, according to the Guardian.

Thomson's new role gives him official control of the Wall Street Journal newsroom, which, according to the paper's staffers, he was already managing anyway. In addition, he will also be editor-in-chief of Dow Jones' newswires service, the Guardian reported.

Following Murdoch's takeover of the Dow Jones group, he has stated that he wants the paper to diversify away from its business roots to battle with mainstream publications like The New York Times. There is now a page dedicated to sports as well as plans for a glossy magazine, the Guardian reported.

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