Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive

[Swede]

One of Rupert Murdoch's most senior European executives has resigned following Guardian inquiries about a circulation scam at News Corporation's flagship newspaper, the Wall Street Journal.

The Guardian found evidence that the Journal had been channelling money through European companies in order to secretly buy thousands of copies of its own paper at a knock-down rate, misleading readers and advertisers about the Journal's true circulation.

The bizarre scheme included a formal, written contract in which the Journal persuaded one company to co-operate by agreeing to publish articles that promoted its activities, a move which led some staff to accuse the paper's management of violating journalistic ethics and jeopardising its treasured reputation for editorial quality.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/12/wall-street-journal-andrew-langhoff

[Evasporque]

1. Ad rates are based on circulation...and those numbers are watched and verified

by a industry watchdog association...

This is very damaging to WSJ...

[Vincardog]

2. Murdoch and conservatives ideologues in general turn everything they touch into shit

[applegrove]

3. The neocon national newspaper in Canada has not been making a profit

for its 15 year history. Yet it still gets published.