On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal will open its own travel agency, WSJ Travel. Reportedly, the new venture will offer trips to about 50 destinations per year, coinciding with the topics of travel articles that will appear in the paper. Itʼs an effort to bring additional revenue into the newspaper.
There are questions yet to be answered, of course.
- Is it possible for any newspaper to write objectively about something itʼs trying to persuade readers to buy?
- Does a newspaper really have the behind-the-scenes expertise to be successful in a totally different retail business?
- If it makes sense to sell travel today, then why not diamonds, power tools, or laptops tomorrow? What business is the company really in?
