Friday, October 23, 2009

Does More Housework Mean More Sex? -- Or other questions you didn't expect to read about in the Wall St. Journal

Is the Wall St. Journal, in an attempt to broaden its readership, going soft?

The Journal, which battled the New York Times in covering the travails of the super rich, seems to be opening a new front: women-focused features.

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the Journal ran soft feature news on the front-page of its Personal Journal section.

On Tues.: "Lies, Damned Lies and Lies to Tell Your Spouse," which featured more responses from women about why they lie than men (who didn't really respond to the article).

On Wed.: "Does More Housework Mean More Sex?," which makes the case that the more husbands handle housework, the more sex they get. The article doesn't actually use the term quid pro quo, but might as well.

Interesting articles, but even though written by long-time Journal reporters, Elizabeth Bernstein and Sue Shellenbarger, the latter the "Work & Family" columnist, it seems like a new front for the Journal vs. the Times. At the least, a bit risque for the Journal, and perhaps evidence of Murdoch tarting up the Journal (as he has done with every other newspaper in the News Corp. portfolio).

The question: how will the Times respond?

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