DOW JONES AND BELLSOUTH TEST INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING SERVICE

     DOW JONES AND BELLSOUTH TEST INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING SERVICE
    NEW YORK, May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (NYSE: DJ) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS) announced their joint development of a new interactive advertising service.
    The service will be tested initially by The Wall Street Journal and will give Journal readers immediate access to additional information about products, services and businesses advertised in the newspaper.
    The service, called The Reader Service Line(sm), begins today (May 11) and will be provided through BellSouth's interactive voice- messaging system.  In the test, advertisements containing a toll-free 800 number and advertiser codes will run in certain Wall Street Journal regional editions.  Journal readers who want more information about these advertisements can call the newspaper's toll-free number 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
    The Reader Service Line provides a standardized and simple way to get information.  After dialing an easy-to-remember, toll-free number (800-CALL-WSJ) and entering the advertiser's code, callers will be able to listen to messages about specific products, services or corporate affairs, such as a company's financial performance, analyst reports and applications of the advertiser's products or uses of its services.  They may also have the option to request additional information, such as financial reports, videos and samples, that will be sent to them quickly.  Other information may be faxed immediately. Callers will also be able to reach an attendant at any time for help or further information.
    "With this approach, our readers will have a simple and effective way to respond instantly to advertising and to find out what they want to know when they want to know it," said Paul Atkinson, vice president of advertising for The Wall Street Journal.  "At the same time, we are giving our advertisers a new mechanism to expand their print messages and response capabilities."
    "By linking the power of the printed word from Dow Jones with the latest communications technology from BellSouth, we have devised what we expect to be an important new information service for readers and advertisers alike," said L.A. Taylor, group president advertising and publishing, BellSouth Enterprises, Inc.  "We think The Reader Service Line is a unique way for a publisher to better respond to its readers and advertisers."
    In the Wall Street Journal trial, Dow Jones and BellSouth will work together with participating advertisers to develop their audio messages.  Dow Jones will market and promote The Reader Service Line to readers and advertisers in regional editions of The Wall Street Journal.  A BellSouth Enterprises unit will provide the Journal's voice-response services and will manage and maintain the system.  If the trial is successful, enhancements to the service, such as the ability to purchase products and services advertised in The Wall Street Journal, may be added.
    Dow Jones and BellSouth are also exploring opportunities to provide similar interactive advertising services to other publishers and media companies.
    The Reader Service Line is the second service announced by Dow Jones and BellSouth as part of their recently formed strategic alliance to jointly explore and develop new business opportunities in the information services market.  The companies are also testing a voice-based service called Personal Info Clips through BellSouth's cellular affiliate in Los Angeles.  The service enables mobile-phone subscribers to receive customized, up-to-date news about business, economics, stocks, bonds, commodities, sports, weather and a variety of other topics.
    Dow Jones, a global publisher of business news and information, publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's magazine and other periodicals, electronic business information services and the Ottaway group of community newspapers.
    BellSouth is an Atlanta-based international telecommunications holding company, which provides local telephone services in nine southeastern states, mobile telecommunications services worldwide, advertising and publishing services and markets and maintains stand- alone and fully integrated communications systems.
    -0-                  5/11/92
    /CONTACT:  Tim Klein, 404-249-4135 or Scott Ticer, 404-249-2824, both of BellSouth; or Roger May of Dow Jones, 212-416-2601/
    (BLS) CO:  Dow Jones & Company, Inc.; BellSouth Corporation ST:  Georgia, New York IN:  TLS PUB SU:

BR-BN -- AT014 -- 8735 05/11/92 15:05 EDT