Toronto Star partners with The Wall Street Journal for business coverage
The Toronto Star has rebranded its business section as the Star Business Journal as part of its new partnership with The Wall Street Journal.
For a limited time, the Star Business Journal will offer a sample of articles on business, the economy, technology and markets from The Wall Street Journal on thestar.com and in print. Greater access to articles from The Wall Street Journal will be offered as part of a premium digital subscription package.
Torstar Corporation director of communications Bob Hepburn told J-Source that a timeline or pricing for the digital subscription package has not been determined yet.
Toronto Star print subscribers will receive content from the Star Business Journal every day except for Sunday. There will be additional coverage every Wednesday in a larger section.
Torstar brands including The Hamilton Spectator, Waterloo Region Record, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune, Peterborough Examiner and StarMetro urban news sources in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax and Toronto will carry content from The Wall Street Journal.
Hepburn said that a normal amount of content will still be generated from Toronto Star staff.
“Regardless of where you live, whether it’s in Canada, the U.S. or elsewhere in the world, you look at business on a global scene rather than just at the Canadian scene,” Hepburn said. “… Also it depends on what sort of profession you’re in. If you’re in marketing or mining you’re interested in what’s happening elsewhere in the world in those fields, rather than just from a Canadian perspective. It’s not like we’re cutting Canadian coverage of those areas, we’re adding to it.”
There are no plans for the Star and The Wall Street Journal to work on any collaborative stories together, according to Hepburn.
He also said it’s important to remember the Star Business Journal is on a sample basis right now. Once the digital subscription program starts, he said there will be far more content from The Wall Street Journal.
The Toronto Star partnered with The New York Times in 2010 through expanded coverage in its Sunday Star print edition. A copy of The New York Times International Weekly and The New York Times Book Review became available to Sunday home-delivery subscribers or in single-copy papers of the Sunday Star.
The Star’s agreement with the Times is not exclusive because other Canadian media outlets purchase their news wire service, according to Hepburn.
He said the Toronto Star partnership with The Wall Street Journal is unique because it’s the only Canadian news organization that has access to its content, especially online.
Spencer Turcotte is J-Source's summer reporter/researcher. He can be reached at spencer.turcotte@torontomu.ca, and on Twitter @turcottespencer.