Media strategy · Operations · New ventures

Joe Cooke

Media Strategist & Operator

I work on the business of news: building the strategy, operations and new ventures for the industry's next decade of growth.

About

Today I'm the strategic and operating partner to the General Manager of The Wall Street Journal, working across the core business and the new. The new means taking opportunities from business case to launched P&L: WSJ's video expansion, the relaunch of WSJ Games, podcasts, international growth and new franchises including Free Expression and WSJ Sports Intelligence. The core is the subscription and advertising engines keeping the lights on. I also support partnerships and M&A across Dow Jones's consumer brands.

Previously, I spent eight years with NBCUniversal News Group as Global Strategy and Business Development Director, working across streaming, subscriptions, digital publishing, audio and commerce for NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, TODAY and Dateline.

I began on NBCUniversal's International Future Leaders Programme in London, rotating through corporate development and M&A, TV production, SVOD distribution and digital analytics. I read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford.

Outside of work, I co-own The Urbane Arts Club with my wife, publish The Weekly Cut and founded Not For Attribution.

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Experience

Career

The common thread

Building the next model for news from inside the institutions that define it.

2024–present
New York

The Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones

Director of Strategy, Operations & Growth · Office of the GM

I serve as a strategic and operating partner to the General Manager of WSJ Digital, working across the core business and the next set of growth opportunities.

Core operations: Work across product, subscriptions and advertising to keep the P&L on track, turning subscriber, engagement, revenue and cost data into clear decisions.
Strategy and new ventures: Take opportunities from business case through operating model, launch and performance management.
Partnerships and M&A: Support growth across Dow Jones's consumer brands from assessment and valuation through diligence and recommendation.

2016–2024
New York

NBCUniversal News Group

Global Strategy & Business Development

Covered strategy and commercial deals across streaming, subscriptions, commerce, audio, digital publishing and international expansion for NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, TODAY and Dateline. I was also seconded as strategy advisor to the President of NBC News & NBC News International.

2014–2016
London

NBCUniversal International

Future Leaders Programme

Rotations through corporate development and M&A, international television distribution, television production strategy and digital analytics at Universal Pictures.

2013
Oxford