Wall Street Journal front page yesterday

Look at the WSJ front page yesterday. It struck me as the reflection of a very odd news sense. The most newsworthy piece there is the A-head (which is usually their "human interest" story). The A-head involves the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and manages to bring to light details that are new to me.

But the other three front page headlines are:

1. Business Spending Looks Up (a worthy subject, though it could well have gone into pages 2 or 3).

2. Vatican in Bold Bid to Attract Anglicans (I would certainly have put this further inside -- important as it is to wavering Anglicans thinking of undoing the effects of Henry VIII's rashness.)

3. Mattel Hopes Barbie Facelift will Show Up Younger Rivals (the WSJ has a separate Marketing section precisely for such news items as this. What's with the front page treatment here???)

There were at least six stories breakinbg that morning that would have been more fit subjects for the WSJ (in its older pre-Murdoch days) that any of those. I'll call them "Alt" front page stories. I'll paraphrase them hereafter rather than reproduce them literally as with the italicized headlines above.

Alt1. A bipartisan panel led by Volcker is saying some important things about the debt/equity bias in the corporate tax system. That's at p. A4 here.

Alt.2. The fight over Medicare cuts and how that is feeding into the broader health care debate. Page A8.

Alt.3. Important news from Afghanistan, Karzai Accepts a runoff. That is at A13. Twelve whole pages behind the Barbie news.

Alt. 4. Taiwan's worries about mainland China's military buildup. A16.

Alt. 5. Important angle on the Galleon insider-trading arrests arrest -- connection with McKinsey. This is at C1. To be fair, the front page of the "Money & Investing" section is a pretty important piece of real estate. It is the page to which hardcore readers turn first. Still, it strikes me as more worthy of Page 1 than "Business Spending Looks Up." THAT could have fittingly headlined the C section (not that I intend drastic surgery.)

Alt. 6. US Bancorp's Buying spree continues. Are we seeing the rise of new "too big to fail" institution for the next round of bail-outs. This story raises that important question from the back of the bus. Page C5.

If this kind of news sense is the secret of the WSJ's new success, I fear for us all.