When Rupert Murdoch finally won control of Dow Jones last year, a big part of the deal, at least in the headlines, was that editorial operations at The Wall Street Journal would be shielded from meddling on the part of the new owner.

But even then most everyone knew it was all window dressing and that Murdoch would run the paper as he pleased. It was only a matter of time.

That time has arrived, and it looks like today, which is a lot sooner than most expected.

The Journal's managing editor, Marcus Brauchli, is leaving the paper after just 11 months in the position and just four months after Murdoch's New Corp. gained control of Dow Jones. He could announce his resignation as early as today.

The Journal, in reporting Brauchli's expected departure, gave no reason but other reports say the 24-year Journal staffer quickly grew frustrated by what he felt was interference from above by the new management team put in place by Murdoch.

Brauchli is expected to stay on with News Corp. in some undefined capacity.

Robert Thomson, the Journal's publisher, is expected to take over as managing editor while a search is conducted for Brauchli's replacement. That search could extend outside the paper, breaking with a long Journal tradition of promoting from within.

Thomson, like Murdoch an Australian by birth, had worked for Murdoch as editor of the Times of London for six years before arriving at the Journal, and from the start it appears his marching orders were to begin evolving the paper according to Murdoch's plan to make the business daily a more general-interest paper to compete with The New York Times.

Thomson wasn't reluctant to make his wishes known to Brauchli, and the managing editor reportedly chafed under that direction.

Behind it all, directing Thomson, was Murdoch, who had made it clear even before he acquired the paper that he felt it needed a good shakeup and a change in editorial direction. The only surprising thing was how quickly he moved to introduce those changes.

One bone of contention, reports today’s New York Times, is that Murdoch wanted to trim the number of editors to make room for more reporters, an idea Brauchli resisted. He also resisted Murdoch’s plan to run more general-interest stories while cutting back on business news.

Brauchli succeeded Paul Steiger as managing editor last May, promoted from deputy managing editor after years of working as an overseas correspondent, and like Steiger and other former managing editors he assumed he would be the final say on editorial matters.

The deal Murdoch struck to acquire Dow Jones created a special panel to ensure the editorial independence of the Journal and other Dow Jones properties and was to include outsiders in addition to News Corp. and Dow Jones appointees. It has the right to approve hiring and firings, and technically it could look into the circumstances of Brauchli's resignation.

But that would seem unlikely. The reality is that Murdoch now controls the paper and is bent on reshaping it to his vision as a competitor to the Times, and he's moving quite quickly. It’s unlikely the panel will block whom he chooses as Brauchli's successor.