D'accord. It was a disappointment. I expected it to be modeled more on the Financial Times Weekend Edition. It fell short.

I completely disagree with the reviewer. I was delighted to have the familiar weekday version simply extended to the weekend.

The writing and reporting was as good as ever (the wsj journalists/reporters are the most talented to be found in any publication anywhere.)

I hope they continue just they way it started. Sometimes a bored (yawnnn..) person is simply boring.

The Wall Street Journal works precisely because we DON'T have to read it on the weekend. If we are going to read "the Journal" on Saturday, then we might as well go into the office for awhile, too. If we are reading "the Journal" at the office on Saturday, then what makes Saturday different from Wednesday?

The Weekend Journal tucked like a Trojan Horse within our Friday WSJ is now proven to be what I suspected it was all along, an advertising revenue driven plot for my beloved weekday mistress to gain access to my weekend cottage in the country.

The new Saturday edition, like a mistress that has failed to understand her role in my life, deserves to fail!

Ah ... but could it be that the weekday / work-week is finally breaking down at all levels?

Something very interesting happened this weekend, but it was very far from being a positive event. This weekend was the debut of the awaited The Wall Street Journal’s "Weekend Edition." After scouring over their debut release I nearly wanted to go back to the grocery store and ask for my money back. There was also the business man inside of me that also felt as though I had cheated myself and the investing public out of something critical. As some of you know News Contrast started a Weekly Wrap last year that unfortunately had to be furloughed because one man thought he couldn't take on the world. If you ever find yourself doing something you love, then by all means possible go make it happen. I wish I would have listened to this advice earlier this year.

This new effort from the WSJ absolutely demonstrated yet again how the print media is truly struggling to stay afloat in the digital world. This made me think of many questions, and the answers were actually quite simple. Is it because so much is free on the net? Actually, NO it is not. Is it because advertisers are abandoning print media for interactive and digital media? Partially, but look at the papers and they are still loaded with ads. Is it because of their corporate structures? Guess what my answer is when I tell you that newspaper companies are comparable in many ways to legacy airline carriers: YES. How much will people pay for content? That depends on whom you are referring too, but it has to be more than this stupid "Weekend Edition" that The Wall Street Journal just turned out.

Something else is very evident here, and Dow Jones (DJ-NYSE; parent of The Wall Street Journal) needs to remember business trends and lessons from the past. First off these guys are giving it free right now for "WSJ" subscribers, but it costs $1.50 at the stores. This is very doubtful that their model is going to work. By giving it free, these guys are increasing their full operating costs and generating very little additional incremental income. Businesses in the media that want to be successful know that you only give something for free if it is not too costly or troublesome AND is something that will assure that you just did the thing that will assure your subscribers will be enticed to remain subscribers for years.

I will not slam them too much over their content in the "Weekend Edition" beyond this, but to say this paper stinks would be being generous. What their “Weekend Edition” accomplished was more a review of Friday than anything else. Sure, they offer up a calendar for the week ahead that was pathetic and contained much more sparse forward looking events than Dow Jones' other weekend publication Barron's. The Weekend Edition is really nothing more than "more of the same" (but even less) that is really just a Saturday morning business paper.

Dow Jones already makes its Monday morning edition of "Investors Business Daily" available over the weekend and its "Barron's" has been a weekend bible for everyone in the financial markets for years. What is going to likely occur here with this third financial publication from the same company? The answer is almost certainly Cannibalization. Unfortunately I will have to peruse this "Weekend Edition" a few more weekends because of what I chose for a profession as a News Analyst.

The fact that this initial publication in its debut can take credit for breaking the news that Centennial Communications (CYCL-NASDAQ) is not going to be enough to help. Because Dow Jones has so many partnerships this data is available in many other locations outside of Dow Jones that you don't need to bother paying Dow Jones for it. Even if they are able to save a big story for their "Weekend Edition" each week it is most likely not going to be enough for them to bring in enough new subscribers to merit this added expense, effort, and sacrifice to their bottom line.

Maybe the fact that I have to pay for so many other services has jaded me to this garbage. Maybe with so many blogs and free sources of news, this "Weekend Edition" was born already on life support. Maybe they will generate additional Ad revenues, but will it offset the costs of the publication? Forbes.com posted an article Friday morning from the well-respected George Putnam titled "Don't Write Off Old Media," but even while he is positive specifically on Dow Jones it almost certainly isn't because of this effort they debuted.

After reviewing this and after taking the time to write this, it is very tempting to re-launch an ex-endeavor. If you have any suggestions, comments, requests, or feedback email info@newscontrast.com for review. Dow Jones probably won't like what they see here at all, but most people need to address unhappiness first by looking into the mirror. Hopefully this won't jeopardize any future relationships between Dow Jones and News Contrast, but if it does then oh well. At least Dow Jones’ delivery service providers and their ink and paper suppliers may have something to be happy about.

Jon C. Ogg,
President and Founder of News Contrast, Inc.

I have to strongly disagree. The Saturday Journal was just what I needed. At last, an alternative to the local paper on Saturdays, and it was chock full of the excellent journalism that I am accustomed to. Sure, it had some features that I don't need, but I loved having it. It sounds like the reviewer was more interested in some other product which I am glad the Journal did not deliver...I am sure that other product is out there somewhere...Keep searching, but for me, the Saturday Journal was just perfect.

David's entry surprised me. I loved the first edition of the Weekend Journal. _Loved_ it. In fact, I think they almost nailed it. The first two sections were what's best about the Journal, with an increased focus on personal finance in the second section. And the new third section rocked. Were this a weekly magazine rather than a Saturday-Sunday edition of a magazine, I think the usual bizmag suspects would have to recalibrate what they do, how, and why. Reading the weekend Journal, I felt like I was getting what's best of the Economist, BusinessWeek, the Journal, and even Fast Company -- Conde Nast should take notes.

Hey fool! Not only do I totally disagree, I think your critical review was 100% useless. Come on now, what would you as a fast co editor think of your own review. This statement may in the contrary to fast co be true..." It seems to believe that there's value in the information being delivered by the Wall Street Journal". Just the same as every Mercedes turned out is thought of as genius by the people that drive them, every apple i-pod delivered is the best to date and every hotel Ritz opens up is bar none the best hotel experience around. The thing you forget is WSJ is the gold standard, fast co. is at best the bronze standard and you being the critic is like Sean Penn criticizing Michael Brown, pathetic. Nice opinion, but I am not buying it, nor are the 10 plus WSJ subscribers that I know that LOVED the new Saturday edition.

By the way I am not a subscriber of Fast co. and with your gibberish I will not be anytime soon. Also, remember what you are all about…your subscribers and as much as you would like to think, you are nothing without them. One last reminder from Dale Carnegie and my mother…’Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain.. and most fools do.’
Dale Carnegie -

Thank you for saying what many of us were thinking. This much-ballyhooed launch was an overwrought, oversize disappontment. The Journal used to be a great newspaper. But there were so many things wrong: a Tsunami story that looked six months old on the front page. A list of restaurants i could have seen anywhere else. Tons of stories crammed in, none of them must-reads and some dumbed down so much they were insulting. Only good thing was more books coverage.
Even the once-snappy Weekend section gets more ancillary every week. A big article about grammar school politics the week Katrina hit was in awful taste and showed how NY-centric the "national" Journal really is. (In Atlanta, if were thinking about school buses, it was in the context of emergency evacuation.) Don't they get it?: the advertisers will stick around only when the Journal regains its voice and its rigor. Write smarter.

The Saturday Edition is just another example of the complete failure of Dow Jones to adapt to new realities. The company leadership is so enamored of their brand that they truly believe their hype about the "Weekend will never be the same". The paper was a waste of time. It is obvious to anybody that follows the news that Dow Jones has been in a stock and earnings death spiral for some time now and this latest venture is just their feeble attempt to create more advertising revenue that is desperately needed. Times change and businesses that do not adapt effectively will not survive.

WSJ's Weekend Edition is just what I was looking for - a smart and insightful weekend newspaper covering the business of life. Delightful!