When Emma Tucker stepped into the editor-in-chief role at The Wall Street Journal in 2022, she found a newsroom doing award-winning work — but often for the wrong audience. 

“A lot of the journalism, it felt to me, was journalism for other journalists,” she said. “There wasn’t a real focus on who we were doing the journalism for … so my message right from the beginning was: We need to be producing journalism the readers want to read.” 

It sounds obvious, she acknowledged at the INMA 2025 World Congress of News Media in New York City last month. But for Tucker and Sherry Weiss, the Journal’s chief marketing officer who joined the company around the same time, that deceptively simple idea has become the backbone of a strategic overhaul focused on growing subscriptions and building loyalty in an increasingly crowded digital landscape.

Being relentlessly audience-focused is their shared mantra. 

Audience first 

For decades, the WSJ has been synonymous with high-calibre reporting in finance, business, and geopolitics. But Tucker saw room to recalibrate its mission; not to shift away from its core strengths, but to better communicate its relevance to a broader audience.

“Really, my main message was to look out rather than to look in,” Tucker said. “We have to be telling people things they don’t know, at a time that’s useful for them. It has to be relevant. It has to be compelling.”

In practice, that means reporting with the reader’s needs front and centre. Who is this story for? What will they learn? How will it help them?

Under Tucker’s leadership, she said the newsroom has become more deliberate about these questions, integrating explainers, real-time updates, and behind-the-scenes context into coverage when appropriate. A recent example: comprehensive tariff coverage structured around different reader needs — live updates, policy scoops, explainers, and political analysis. 

This shift is more than editorial polish. It’s a philosophy that aligns deeply with Weiss’ approach to marketing: Serve the existing reader before chasing the next one. 

Collaboration across the wall 

Tucker and Weiss both emphasise the same point: Great journalism doesn’t grow on its own. It needs to be seen, understood, and marketed.

At the WSJ, they have been trying to break down a siloed approach to their business operations. Editorial and marketing now work side by side, with shared KPIs and daily collaboration. That integration has enabled quicker campaign turnarounds, more aligned messaging, and smarter experimentation. 

“If you do not have the newsroom at the table when you’re thinking about your brand platform and how you go to market, you’re missing a wonderful opportunity,” Weiss said. 

Their approach is paying off. A data-driven campaign on food inflation featured cheeky but insightful messaging across subway stations and EV charging banners. The goal was to communicate the value of WSJ journalism in a memorable way — by meeting potential readers where they are, with issues that hit close to home.

A brand renewed

While the WSJ is one of the most recognised media brands in the world, Weiss quickly learned legacy alone wasn’t everything. 

“When you think about the words ‘Wall Street,’ a lot of people think it’s not for them,” she said. “What we found is that often our journalism is things that our growth audiences would like, but they don’t know.”

Weiss and her team conducted a full audit of the brand and launched a fresh campaign that emphasised distinctive storytelling. They pinpointed the most memorable stories of the year and aligned them with what made WSJ essential: insight, timeliness, and clarity.

“It was time for a renewal,” Weiss said. 

It was also time for retention. “It’s easier to keep a reader than to go out and acquire a new one,” she added. Her background in loyalty and engagement helped push the outlet toward a more intentional focus on long-term reader relationships. 

Balancing substance and surprise

While much of the WSJ’s strength lies in its coverage of serious topics — global markets, fiscal policy, tech regulation — Tucker said she believes there’s room to delight, too. 

“There’s room around the edges,” she said. “We have a great sports department, for example. But I see those as once you’re in as a subscriber, these are sort of extra things that are likely to entertain.” 

That openness has led to coverage that reflects the full experience of its readers, from deep investigations into Elon Musk’s influence to trend stories on private group chats trying to plan a vacation.

“Nothing’s off the table,” Tucker said. “There are great stories out there for everyone who’s interested in any of these things.” 

Tucker and Weiss don’t claim to have all the answers. But together they’ve built an editorial-marketing symbiosis driven by reader needs, which offers a compelling model for sustainable growth in journalism. 

“The readers are everything,” Tucker said. “I’m not about the prizes and the accolades from peers — we have to be delivering journalism that people want to come back to every day.”

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