Wall Street Journal flap may spark British auditors' probe

The Audit Bureau of Circulation's statement follows a report in the Guardian that the Journal was funneling money through third parties to one of its subscribers, effectively buying its own papers to inflate its circulation figures.

Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones pointed out that the plan had been approved by the audit bureau, but in a statement released Thursday the circulation watchdog said that "there now appears to be additional new information which may give grounds for further investigation."

The Wall Street Journal Europe's publisher, Andrew Langhoff, has already resigned over the paper's links to the company involved.