Thomson named as top Wall Street Journal editor

By Robert MacMillan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp's Rupert Murdoch appointed Robert Thomson as the top editor of The Wall Street Journal, the company said on Tuesday, succeeding Marcus Brauchli, who resigned under pressure last month.

News Corp also apologized to a committee charged with overseeing editorial independence at the Journal, saying it should have consulted with the group before finalizing Brauchli's resignation.

Thomson, whom Murdoch installed as publisher when he bought Dow Jones & Co Inc for $5.6 billion last year, also has been named as editor-in-chief of the News Corp subsidiary.

"Mr. Thomson's outstanding career as a financial journalist, foreign correspondent and editor, equips him perfectly for the position," Murdoch said in a statement.

The committee designed to safeguard the Journal's integrity voted unanimously to approve Thomson.

"No issues came to our attention that would prevent us from approving him," the committee's chief, Tom Bray, told Reuters. "He is a man obviously of considerable experience in journalism and as an editor."

In an op-ed article to be published in Wednesday's edition of the Journal and obtained by Reuters, the committee said it was concerned with Thomson's role in Brauchli's departure and that Thomson told the committee that "he now realizes that the way this was handled was a mistake."

Thomson was not immediately available for comment.