Exclusive: WSJ launches new opinion offshoot "Free Expression"
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The Wall Street Journal on Monday launched "Free Expression," a newsletter-focused opinion brand that will be available via its own channels and Substack.
Why it matters: The new section is meant to expand WSJ's opinion coverage to a broader audience outside of its current focus on mostly financial and business perspectives, Paul A. Gigot, the Journal's longtime editorial page editor and vice president, said in an interview with Axios.
How it works: Beginning Monday, readers will be able to access content from Free Expression for free as a newsletter and in a dedicated section on the Journal's website.
- Free Expression will later become a paid product, available as a $5 monthly add-on for current WSJ subscribers or bundled with a Journal subscription for new subscribers.
- New subscribers can get access via a bundled subscription with the Journal at an introductory rate of $20 every four weeks.
- For readers who want to sample the new product, a limited free version of the newsletter will be available weekly on Substack and the Journal's website.
Zoom in: The new feature marks a significant expansion of the Journal's opinion coverage, and it will be accompanied by a slew of new Free Expression editors, columnists and contributors, including Matthew Continetti, Meghan Cox Gurdon, James B. Meigs, John J. Miller, Louise Perry, Ben Sasse and Kyle Smith.
- The content will be "somewhat different than what we would call core opinion, which has a central focus on business and economics," Gigot said. Instead, it will focus more on life, culture and politics.
- "It will be more about the hot cultural debates that take place in our country as well as all the things that people discuss in their daily lives," he added.
- Matthew Hennessey, deputy editorial features editor at the Wall Street Journal, will be the editor and a columnist for Free Expression.
- In his debut column, he says the section "won't ignore Washington and Wall Street, but we'll cast a wider net."
Between the lines: The Journal will invest heavily in making Free Expression feel more accessible on external platforms via multimedia formats and its own, distinct branding.
- In addition to a dedicated Substack page, Free Expression will have its own social media handles and will publish editorial content via audio and video formats that are meant to be consumed on social platforms, per Gigot.
- The new effort will result in a 25% expansion of the Journal's overall opinion content output, he added.
Zoom out: The Journal is one of several legacy media companies experimenting with Substack as a way to expand its reach, including the Washington Post, The Economist, Financial Times and The New Yorker.
- "We like the idea of having another access point for readers and subscribers to see our content," Gigot said.
- "Substack has shown itself to be a place where readers are going for opinion content, and we want to broaden our ecosystem to that audience."
Editor's note: This story was corrected after the company clarified that its bundled subscription with the Journal applies to all new subscribers (not just Substack subscribers) and costs $20 every four weeks (not $12 monthly).
