Wall Street Journal's top man is poised to quit

The managing editor of the Wall Street Journal is set to resign after just over a year in the job.

His decision could be announced as early as today.

Marcus Brauchli received a standing ovation in the newsroom when his appointment to the top job was announced. He was seen as someone to safeguard the paper's credibility in the face of Rupert Murdoch's attempt to purchase its owner, Dow Jones.

The $5.6 billion (£2.83 billion) acquisition was completed about four months ago.

Brauchli's exit is said to be amicable and he is expected to stay on at the paper but there has been speculation over his position since Murdoch appointed Robert Thomson, former editor of The Times, as publisher and Brauchli's boss.

Brauchli started at Dow Jones as a copyreader in 1984 and rose from foreign correspondent to global news editor, guiding the paper's successful Asian and European redesigns in 2005.

His successor will have to be approved by a special committee that was set up to oversee the Journal's independence under the Dow Jones takeover deal.