Table Scraps, Journal versus Times

In an article, How Different Is Murdoch’s New Wall Street Journal?, By Mark Jurkowitz of PEJ, he discusses how the direction of the New Wall Street Journal is trying to achieve better circulation against the New York Times. It reads like they are fighting over table scraps of a market where the readers are disappearing, or perhaps they don’t know their reader as well as they should. Jurkowitz says, “So thus far in the Murdoch era, the newly staked out battleground between the Journal and Times seems to be located mostly on the playing field of politics.” So, I was wondering how much of this war over circulation was based on their readers, perhaps loyal readers. It is well know that the Journal’s readers want the latest news on stocks, bonds and daily business. In contrast, the Times readers wants national, regional and breaking news events. Why is the Journal after the Times audience? With circulation down, are they fighting over table scraps of the left of readers that still buy newspapers?