WASHINGTON ? The Wall Street Journal is launching a San Francisco edition on Thursday, joining The New York Times and the ailing local newspaper, the Chronicle, in a battle for readers in the Bay Area.

The News Corp.-owned Journal said the San Francisco edition would focus on local news and events and appear every Thursday. It also said the Journal's website, WSJ.com, would feature regularly updated local news.

The announcement by the Journal, which has the largest circulation of any US newspaper, comes three weeks after the Times began publishing a twice-weekly San Francisco edition of its own.

The move comes as the Times battles the Journal and USA Today in a fight for readers nationwide and as US newspapers in general search for ways to address shrinking print advertising revenue and a glut of free news online.

In San Francisco, the Times and Journal are targeting a market where Hearst Corp. threatened to close the money-losing San Francisco Chronicle earlier this year if unions did not agree to major cost cuts.

The Journal said the San Francisco edition would provide coverage of local business news, economics, technology, cultural activities, sports, politics, and education issues.

It said the Journal currently reaches an audience of more than 92,000 readers in the San Francisco market.