Will you accept a friend request from Rupert Murdoch? If you’re lucky, you’ll be asking yourself that when WSJ Profile, News Corp.’s LinkedIn competitor, debuts. As you can see from the picture, WSJ Profile will be almost identical to LinkedIn in what it offers. The Next Web reports that WSJ Profile is expected to launch in the next few weeks.

Lex Fenwick, CEO of Dow Jones, considers WSJ Profile a smart way to keep people glued to the Wall Street Journal. “We will be able to build a network of like-minded people around the world, into a community,” he said.

We agree that WSJ Profile is a good idea, but all we want to know is if it’s a blingee free zone or not.

Robin Riddle has joined Dow Jones as publisher of WSJ Custom Studios. Riddle comes to the company from The Economist, where he had been for the past 15 years. He most recently served as the Economist’s vice president of custom publishing and events.

At WSJ Custom Studios, Riddle will have “global responsibility for both custom publishing and special advertising sections,” according to a Dow Jones statement.

Riddle’s appointment is effective immediately.

Dow Jones has made two changes to its Europe coverage. First up, Thorold Barker has been named editor, Europe, Middle East and Africa for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. In this new role, Barker will be responsible for news output in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will be covering the print, digital and local language sites of The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and Financial News.

Additionally, Gren Manuel has been named executive editor for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. He will be tasked with integrating and then overseeing the operations of the newsrooms in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Manuel will report to Barker.

“As we continue to build an integrated newsroom tasked to pursue our global ambitions, an expanded role in Europe ranks among our highest priorities,” said Gerard Baker, managing editor of the Journal and editor-in-chief of Dow Jones, in a statement. “Given the size of our presence in the region, it represents a tremendous opportunity for us to refine and grow our peerless range of news products and take them to an even wider audience.”

SmartMoney, the personal finance magazine published by Dow Jones, disappeared from newsstands forever after its September issue. Now, only about six months later, the company has announced… another personal finance magazine! Adweek reports that WSJ. Money is being planned as a spinoff of WSJ., and will debut in March as an insert in the weekend edition of the paper.

Why would Dow Jones create a new magazine after it folded the perfectly good one it already had? Because WSJ. Money will be a finance glossy for the rich. By targeting those with bank accounts so large it makes your stomach turn, Dow Jones is hoping that fancy advertisers — and their fancy ad dollars — follow.

“It’s for people who are voyeuristically interested in the high end and are at the high end,” Mike Miller, senior deputy managing editor at the Journal and the editor overseeing Money, told Adweek.

Dow Jones has made three changes to its editorial leadership. According to a memo from Gerard Baker, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, Almar Latour has been promoted to executive editor, and Rebecca Blumenstein and Matt Murray have been promoted to deputy editors-in-chief.

Per the memo, Blumenstein will be overseeing news content and Murray will be overseeing output. In his new role, Latour will “assume responsibility for our editorial strategy around the world,” explained Baker.

Baker also writes that a new Page One editor for the Journal will be named in the next few days.

All appointments take effect January 1, 2013. Baker’s full note can be seen below.

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After 20 years, it’s the end of the line for SmartMoney as a print publication. The Dow Jones and Co. personal finance magazine will now focus its energy on being a stand-alone website within the MarketWatch family.

Reports say the 25 print staffers, including editor-in-chief Jonathan Dahl, will not transition to the online version. The employees would have to reapply for open positions at smartmoney.com. Nine digital positions are expected to be created at the site within Dow Jones.

Dahl told wwd.com yesterday, “I don’t think people were surprised. It’s been a tough market for a while. But it’s always a shock.”

Even though Dow Jones kept SmartMoney afloat with a hefty investment in the past two years, the closing was not a surprise to insiders. WWD reports that there was a drop off of advertisers since the financial crash, and an early proponent supporter, Dow Jones president Todd Larsen, stepped down earlier this week.

SmartMoney ’s September issue, its last, hits newsstands August 14.

The havoc around the News Corp. hacking scandal is really picking up steam, as Les Hinton just announced that he’s stepping down as CEO of Dow Jones. All Things D has the memo from Rupert Murdoch and Hinton’s resignation letter. Here’s a segment from Murdoch’s note:

News Corporation is not Rupert Murdoch. It is the collective creativity and effort of many thousands of people around the world, and few individuals have given more to this Company than Les Hinton.

And a section from Hinton’s resignation letter:

That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp, and apologize to those hurt by the actions of the News of the World.

Two things: 1) There’s something eerie about that line from Murdoch about News Corp. not being just him and 2) This is not going away. Not for a long, long time.

Thomson Reuters just announced that they’ve hired Paul Ingrassia, a former Dow Jones executive, as its new Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Joining Ingrassia is The Daily’s Managing Editor, Jim Gaines, who will leave the digital newspaper to become an Ethics Editor at Reuters.

The big time moves are part of Reuters revamping its news operations. The company is hoping to make better use of its vast resources and restructure so that its reporting is more efficient.

Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler explained in a company press release, “We must be second to none in speed, accuracy, relevance, and fairness, but also – and crucially – in enterprise, insight, analysis and originality.”

If you live by the phrase “there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team,’” then we have just the job for you. Dow Jones Newswires is on the hunt for a global news integration editor to act as the division’s rep on the New York News Hub, which is a group of editors from various Dow Jones publications who ensure all news groups collaborate on news coverage.

You’ll be working with editors at the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch and more to ensure timely coverage of breaking news; quality of coverage and the seamless collaboration between news teams. Detail-oriented team players are most wanted.

The ideal candidate is an editor with a nose for news, and a working knowledge of Dow Jones Newswires’ structure and journalists. You should be passionate about generating top-notch coverage around the clock (hey, that’s the life of a news editor) and enthusiastic about working with others. Interested? Apply here.

Don’t cry too hard for Marcus Brauchli, the former Wall Street Journal editor who resigned from the paper four months after Rupert Murdoch acquired it from the Bancroft family.

Now executive editor at The Washington Post, it’s always been a closely-guarded secret how much Brauchli got to walk away from his position, but the new book on the Murdoch/Bancroft saga by Sarah Ellison has finally revealed the number to be $6.4 million.

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