Dow Jones Says It Will Split With AllThingsD

Dow Jones confirmed today that it will split with tech news site AllThingsD at the end of the year when the contract between the two organizations expires.

That also means Walt Mossberg, the most influential tech critic in the world, will no longer write his weekly column for The Wall Street Journal. Mossberg has been writing his column for the last 20 years and it's a staple of the tech industry.

It also means the current staff at AllThingsD and its editors Kara Swisher and Mossberg are up for sale. Fortune's Dan Primack reports that several companies such as Comcast, Bloomberg, and The Washington Post are considering buying AllThingsD.

Here's the official statement from Gerard Baker, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal:

For years, Dow Jones/The Wall Street Journal has enjoyed working with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher to bring the best of tech coverage to readers around the world under the All Things Digital brand, however, after discussions, both parties have decided not to renew the agreement when the contract expires at the end of this year.

Technology is the central driver of economic growth and the Journal is committed to being the indispensable global source of news and information in this critical area. We plan to embark on a major global expansion of our technology coverage, which will include adding 20 reviewers, bloggers, visual journalists, editors, and reporters covering digital. As part of this global push, we will also be expanding our conference franchise to include an international technology conference and building a new digital home for our first-class technology news and product reviews on The Wall Street Journal Digital Network. This new initiative will be an integral part of The Wall Street Journal and will be rooted in the Journal's reputation for excellent, fair, objective, reliable and stimulating journalism.

As part of the mutual separation, Walt Mossberg will be leaving the Journal at the end of this year. I want to offer heartfelt thanks for more than twenty years of Personal Technology columns as well as his very fine reporting on national and international affairs in the years before he turned his attention to technology coverage.

-Gerard Baker, Editor in Chief of Dow Jones and Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal