The one-eyed man is king

Reflecting a complete lack of self-awareness, an article in the Times's Business Section has the gall to question whether The Wall Street Journal will dilute its brand by offering a new Saturday lifestyle section. Here's the key sentence:

The Journal is betting that it can fluff up its editorial mix, capture the attention of its well-heeled readers and their families and attract consumer advertisers - all without cannibalizing its weekday editions and, more important, without diluting one of the most recognized and sharply defined franchises in all of journalism.

Say what?

This concern about editorial identity comes from the same New York Times that recently ran an article about men jerking each other off in locker rooms. At least 15-20% of Cole Slaw Blog's purpose is to argue that the Times is ruining itself by appealing to its readers' basest instincts, and twice a week we back up that theory with a battery of evidence. But apparently the Business Section (which I think is quite good) is unfamiliar with the other parts of the paper.

Here's another near-perfect quote:

"What I wonder is if the decision to pursue the Saturday edition isn't a tacit acknowledgement that their core franchise is challenged, that the base business is less attractive than it used to be," said Peter Appert, a media analyst at Goldman Sachs (where the client roster includes both Dow Jones and The New York Times Company).

Pete, you could knock me over with a feather.

Kind of like what would happen if a once-renowned authority on national and international news began to channel the editorial spirits of Sassy, Maxim, US Weekly, People, The Advocate, The National Enquirer, High Times and The Robb Report. Or, you know, something like that.

*Huge thanks to blog pinup Brian for bringing this to my attention, and to the Queen of 2005 ("Q2K5") who read this article and thought, "Cole Slaw Blog."