Anyone questioning the reach of Twitter only has to look at this new fact: Twitter now has more web traffic than The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times.

Of course Facebook is much, much bigger -- but for some reason non-users tend to take Facebook more seriously than Twitter. It's probably the Harvard connection and the similarity with MySpace. Twitter is a different animal. It's more interesting.

And now it's more visited online than the New York Times and Wall St. Journal sites. That's pretty incredible. Of course Twitter doesn't create original content. Does it?

The story goes on to answer its own question. Of course there's original content on Twitter. Tweets can link to blog posts, articles, videos, audio, etc.

Some things just leave me scratching my head.

In an interview with Robert Thomson, the new managing editor of Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, we find out that the Journal is gunning for The New York Times by way of its ability to be objective. Business Week reports:

Still, how can the Journal compete with the Times' much bigger newsroom? No worries, shrugs Thomson. "Journalists at The Wall Street Journal have the objective of being objective. At The New York Times, you have news with a skew. Or a skew with news."

This is a ludicrous assertion, albeit one that echoes his boss, Rupert Murdoch. Told that such talk sends some into seizures, Thomson concedes "there are great journalists at the Times," but the paper's "calcification of culture" gives the Journal an opportunity.

A great deal of ink has been given to Rupert Murdoch's now apparently successful bid for Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Part of this is because the news media love to cover ... the news media.

However, we are also talking about one of the best newspapers in the country and, importantly, a place that's always been a dream for aspiring writers in small and midsized newsrooms everywhere.

The New York Times may be the paper of record, but the Journal has always attracted those who see themselves as writers. Its great creativity and willingness to take risks with its page one stories -- particularly those in the center column -- gave heart to hardworking scribes everywhere.

It was nice to see my old friend The Wall Street Journal upon returning to work today.

"You look good," I said at first sight. "Have you lost weight?"

Actually, it's been well-known since late last year that the WSJ -- perhaps the single most influential publication for U.S. business communicators -- was undergoing a major redesign. And redesigned it has been.

The new Journal is now 12 inches wide (according to my ruler) instead of 15, which is a reduction of 20%!