Dow Jones (NYSE:DJ) has heard the clarion call of the Internet and responded with a sweeping redesign of the Wall Street Journal, about three years too late. Despite all of the talk in the Reader's Guide in today's paper about "excellence" and meeting the expectations of today's busy reader, the reasons for the changes have more to do with the shift of advertising to the internet and a desire to cut down on newsprint costs. Neither trend is new and Dow Jones probably should have reduced the size of the paper several years ago. The company shrunk the international edition of the Journal in 2005. Dow Jones estimates that it will save $18 million from the changes to the Journal.

The design itself will take some getting used to. The Journal is 20 percent narrower which will make it easier for commuters to handle. Dow Jones says it will be running "the same or more news articles than we do today." I like the look overall. The paper seems easier to read and the graphics are improved. It wouldn't surprise me if the New York Times (NYSE:NYT) made similar changes.

But for the long-suffering Dow Jones investors, the question remains whether this is going to make a difference in terms of advertising and circulation revenue. The jury will be out on that question for a while. Newspapers, as has been said ad nauseum, need to change in order to survive. Though internet revenue is growing by leaps and bounds, it remains a small slice of the pie for publishers. Dow Jones is trying to make the Journal more relevant and appealing to a broader set of advertisers. Still, about the only thing that seems to move the company's stock is rumors of a possible sale.