Pun intended: The WSJ takes aim at the NY Times in ads

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on May 19, 2010 at 5:14 PM

The Wall Street Journal began waging an old fashioned newspaper war against The New York Times last month with the launch of its "Greater New York" section, and since then much has been written on the back-and-forth between the two papers.

A Wall Street Journal spokeswoman told Business Insider that there are eight ads total, and The New York Times has even created a video response.

"What is puzzling to analysts and industry executives -- including some within the News Corporation -- is that none of this makes much sense as a business proposition to aid The Journal, especially at a time when newspapers are struggling through a long-term financial decline. But for Mr. Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of the company, these people say, profit is not necessarily what all this is about," The Times' Richard Pérez-Peña wrote last month.

The Journal's metro launch will cost it US$30 million over the next two years, and the paper is not particularly prized by locals for its New York city coverage. But this move comes as an obvious extension of what has been an ongoing battle against The New York Times since Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought Dow Jones, the WSJ's parent company, in 2007, SFN's sister publication, editorsweblog.org, noted last month.

All eight ads, via Gawker: