WSJ managing editor to step down?

Sources at Dow Jones & Company Inc. say that Marcus Brauchli, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, is submitting a letter of resignation, with his departure to be announced as early as Tuesday morning. Time magazine reported that the separation is said to be amicable and Brauchli is likely to stay with the company in a yet-to-be-determined capacity. One source says a search is already underway for the next managing editor.

A spokesman for News Corp., which owns Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, had no comment.

Brauchli (pronounced Brock-lee) started at Dow Jones as a copyreader in 1984 and rose through the ranks from foreign correspondent to global news editor, overseeing the paper's successful Asian and European redesigns in 2005. He was named to the paper's top job almost exactly a year ago, replacing Paul Steiger, who had held the job since 1991. Brauchli received a standing ovation in the newsroom when his appointment was announced and was viewed as someone who would safeguard the paper's credibility in the face of Rupert Murdoch's ultimately successful attempt to purchase Dow Jones.

Sources say that Brauchli tried to find a middle path between the paper's traditionalists and Murdoch's new vision for the paper.