AllThingsD Divorce

Story first appeared on USATODAY.com

Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said Thursday it will not renew its contract with technology news site AllThingsD when it expires at the end of the year and will launch a similar site.

Walt Mossberg, a veteran WSJ journalist and co-founder of the site, also will be leaving the paper at the end of the year as part of the corporate divorce.

Dow Jones, a division of News Corp., will launch a technology news site and plans to hire 20 reviewers, bloggers, visual journalists, editors and reporters. "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," Gerard Baker, editor in chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, said in a statement.

Dow Jones will keep the AllThingsD name, presumably meaning the technology news site that will likely continue under the leadership of Mossberg and co-founder Kara Swisher will adopt a new name and be restructured under a different corporate entity.

Dow Jones said it hasn't finalized its plans for the brand.

AllThingsD was launched by Mossberg and Swisher, a former WSJ reporter, in 2007 as an extension of The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference that debuted four years earlier. It has since become a must-read news site in Silicon Valley and its conferences are attended by high-profile CEOs in the industry.

Dow Jones said it also plans to expand its conference business by introducing an international technology show.

In a note published on AllThingsD.com, Mossberg and Swisher confirmed that the site, as it currently stands, will cease operation at the end of the year but that they will be "Web-siting and conference-producing and much more" under a new corporate structure with new partners and investors.

"While we can't give any details yet — and there are details — you can assume that this new independent business will be laser-focused on continuing and extending Web journalism and conference journalism with the highest standards," they wrote.

The new venture will have "added resources" for hiring more journalists and doing more video and reviews, they said.

Mossberg has been with the newspaper for more than 20 years, covering various beats and becoming one of the most influential technology gadget reviewers.

"As part of the mutual separation, Walt Mossberg will be leaving the Journal at the end of this year," Baker said. "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."

Their split has been expected for a while following reports earlier this year that AllThingsD had begun looking for new investors in anticipation of the contract expiration.

Throughout his involvement with AllThingsD, Mossberg remained an employee of Dow Jones, while others worked as contractors.