Business and finance · Tier one
How to get featured in The Wall Street Journal
Getting featured in The Wall Street Journal: how its business and markets desks choose stories, how to pitch beat reporters, op-ed rules, and its tip channels.
- Website
- wsj.com
- Owner
- Dow Jones (News Corp)
- Lead time
- Breaking business news: same day. Scoops and features: days to weeks. Investigations: months. Op-eds: tied to the news cycle.
- Last verified
At a glance
Audience. Executives, investors, and professionals who read for business, markets, economics, and policy, plus a national general readership.
- Business and companies
- Markets and finance
- Technology
- Economy and policy
- Deals and private equity
- Personal finance and life
- Staff reporting
- Staff reporters on desks such as Business, Markets, Tech, Economy, Politics, and Investigations cover beats and break company news; editors decide assignments.
- Contributed articles
- The newsroom does not publish contributed articles. Outside writers appear on the opinion pages.
- Opinion and op-eds
- The Journal's opinion pages accept exclusive op-ed submissions that argue an issue in the news; responses to Journal articles belong in letters to the editor. The opinion pages operate separately from the newsroom.
- Press releases
- Releases are background for reporters. Coverage comes from news with business or market significance, often broken through reporting or exclusives.
Pitching The Wall Street Journal, step by step
Identify the reporter who covers your company or sector on the relevant desk through recent bylines.
Lead with the business significance and the numbers: revenue, deal terms, market share, or data that changes the picture.
Offer a genuine exclusive on material news to one reporter, and honor it.
Prepare executives, customers, and independent sources for on-record interviews and careful fact-checking.
For an argument, write an exclusive op-ed on an issue in the news rather than a company story, and follow the Journal's op-ed guidelines.
Use the Journal's secure tip channels only for detailed, documented tips.
How The Wall Street Journal decides what to cover
The Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones and owned by News Corp, is organized into desks including Business, Markets, Technology, Economy, Politics, Finance, and Investigations, with reporters who own company and sector beats. Much of its company coverage comes from reporters breaking news through their own sourcing. A company story earns Journal coverage when it matters to business readers or investors: a deal, a strategic shift, a market-moving result, or a trend that changes how an industry works.
The newsroom and the opinion pages are separate. The editorial page has a long-standing pro-free-market point of view; the newsroom reports independently of it.
How to pitch The Wall Street Journal
Find the reporter who covers your company or sector, and read their recent stories. Pitch the business significance first, with numbers that can be verified. Journal reporters expect to check figures and speak to outside sources, including competitors and critics, so prepare executives and supporting voices for detailed, on-record questioning.
Exclusives carry weight at the Journal, but only for genuinely material news, offered to one reporter and honored.
The Journal’s tips page lists Signal, SecureDrop, and postal mail, and says the most useful tips are detailed, provide documentation, and suggest people the Journal can contact to verify the information.
Contributed articles and op-eds
The newsroom does not publish contributed articles. The opinion pages accept op-ed submissions from outside writers. The Journal’s op-ed guidance, as quoted by university libraries, says pieces must be exclusive to the Journal, should make a strong argument about an issue in the news, and should not be a response to a Journal article, which belongs in letters to the editor. Successful executive op-eds argue a policy or economic point grounded in expertise; they do not promote a company.
Frequently asked questions
Can you pay to be featured in The Wall Street Journal?
No. News coverage and op-eds are editorial decisions. Advertising and sponsored content are sold separately and labeled.
Does The Wall Street Journal accept guest posts?
The opinion pages accept exclusive op-eds on issues in the news. The newsroom does not accept contributed articles.
Who should I pitch at The Wall Street Journal?
The reporter covering your company or sector on the relevant desk, found through recent bylines.
A PR-led approach to the Journal starts with business significance and verifiable numbers, then prepares executives for rigorous questioning. That is how we approach media relations for companies that want tier-one business coverage.
Mistakes that get pitches ignored
- Submitting an op-ed that has been offered to other outlets at the same time.
- Writing an op-ed that is really a response to a Journal article; that is a letter to the editor.
- Pitching growth claims you will not let a reporter verify.
- Offering an exclusive and then announcing the news elsewhere first.
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Sources for this profile (2)
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