Adler and Lipman's departures--for Business Week and Conde Nast--had left Marcus Brauchli the perceived frontrunner to replace managing editor Paul Steiger when he reaches retirement age in two years. In apparent affirmation, Steiger has upgraded him to deputy managing editor.

I'm pleased to announce the appointment of Dan Hertzberg as senior deputy managing editor and of Alix Freedman, Marcus Brauchli, Edward Felsenthal and Raju Narisetti as deputy managing editors.

These appointments ratify the expanded responsibilities that all five have already taken on during the past year.

Dan will continue to be responsible for the U.S. bureaus and news and page desks, and to take charge in my absence.

Alix will continue to direct our final reading and other programs to assure that the paper is as accurate and fair as we can make it. In addition, she will lead a small group of top editors to accelerate our progress toward a higher proportion of exclusive and analytical coverage.

Marcus will continue to direct the global news desk, maximizing the quality of all our global editions and increasing the cooperation, collaboration and integration on news coverage between the print Journals and our online and wire affiliates. Edward will continue to oversee the Personal Journal, Weekend Journal, and Pursuits sections and their staffs, to focus on efforts to continue the success of Weekend Edition, and to seek other ways to extend the Journal franchise.

Raju, based in Brussels, will continue to direct all Journal reporting teams and coverage from Europe and the Middle East and to serve as editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe. John Bussey, based in Hong Kong and currently a deputy managing editor, will continue to direct all Journal reporting teams and coverage from Asia and Latin America and to serve as editor of The Wall Street Journal Asia. Please join me in wishing Dan, Alix, Marcus, Edward, Raju and John every success in their assignments.

Best regards, Paul Steiger