Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the Wall Street Journal has been swift and smooth-till now. Marcus Brauchli, the modernizer who sought to reconcile the storied business newspaper with its new owners, is reported to be quitting his position. Sources at the Journal tell Time that Brauchli is submitting a letter of resignation, with his departure to be announced as early as Tuesday morning. It's a surprise.

Brauchli was one of the few Journal managers who tacitly supported the takeover of the Journal by Murdoch's News Corporation, hoping the removal of the Bancroft family and a deep-pocketed backer would free a newspaper which had become hidebound. And Murdoch aides showed no signs of wanting him out; the Journal's new publisher, Robert Thomson, was a friend of Brauchli when both were foreign correspondents in the Far East.

But the Australian media mogul, and his lieutenants, have shown growing impatience with the Journal's resistance to their plans. Murdoch plans to turn the Journal into a full-fledged competitor to the New York Times. even if that means sacrificing the Journal's grip on business readers, or its prized reputation for elegant long-form writing. Brauchli is the first high-profile casualty of this clash.