Summary Box: Wall Street Journal says advertising revenue from print and online is up

Summary Box: WSJ points to print, online ad gains

THE NUMBERS: The Wall Street Journal’s revenue climbed 17 percent in its just-ended quarter, according to a staff memo the newspaper’s publisher, Les Hinton, sent Wednesday.

THE BACKROUND: The gains — in both print and digital ad sales — come as the Journal pursues an aggressive national expansion. It has branched far beyond business and financial news with sections devoted to local and cultural coverage, positioning the newspaper as a direct rival to The New York Times.

THE RESPONSE: The Times shrugged off the Journal’s memo. “All that we know for sure is that Mr. Hinton’s strategy of significantly discounted ads and circulation has had no effect on The Times,” Abbe Serphos, a Times spokeswoman, said in an e-mail message.