At one time WSJ was trusted and serious. It was a business-minded, economically grounded, and culturally restrained paper. Even readers who disagreed with its editorial stance understood that the WSJ operated in a different lane than lifestyle outlets or activist rags. It went without saying.

But now, that clarity is gone.

Over the past few years, the Journal's news division has begun publishing stories that feel completely disconnected from the brand it spent decades building. The tone and the subject matter have totally shifted. And the professional instincts that once separated the WSJ from the rest of the media have been totally wiped out.

After a series of fake news articles that attacked President Trump and his staff, along with some very questionable "woke-style" stories, many are wondering if the Wall Street Journal has made a deliberate rebrand that readers never wanted.

That question is precisely what sparked this X thread making the rounds, which zeroed in on a recent WSJ feature that left many longtime readers scratching their heads.

Does the Journal's news division still understand the audience it's supposed to serve?

Douglass Mackey:

People don't know that the News division of the WSJ (walled off from Editorial) is as woke and libtarded as it gets. One has to ask: Did they systematically exclude white men from employment these last 10 years?

This article was written by someone named Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar with photography and video by someone named Lucy Hewett.

We need to talk about the WSJ.