Hinton currently oversees News Corp's papers in the UK, including The Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The Sun, and News of the World.
New publisher
Robert Thomson, editor of The Times, will become publisher of the Journal.
As publisher, Thomson will oversee the Journal's editorial operations, and the Journal's managing editor Marcus Brauchli will report to him.
At The Times of London, Thomson will be succeeded by James Harding, business and city editor of the paper.
Dow Jones also owns Dow Jones Newswires, Barron's and a news database business called Factiva.
Executive changes
Murdoch's takeover of Dow Jones triggered several other executive changes, including the departures of Richard Zannino, Dow Jones' CEO; Gordon Crovitz, the Wall Street Journal's publisher, and Joseph Stern, the general counsel.
Murdoch has said the Journal has huge potential for growth thanks to the booming demand for business news and information around the globe.
He has also said he wants to compete more aggressively with The New York Times for national readers and advertisers, while beefing up the Journal's Washington reporting, overseas and online operations.
Son's new role
In another move, Murdoch's son James has been appointed to a new role overseeing News Corp's media businesses in Europe and Asia, which include the UK newspaper group and two satellite TV operators, Sky Italia and the Hong Kong-based Star Group.
The move clearly puts the 34-year-old James in line to succeed his father, clearing up lingering questions about who would be next in line to lead News Corp after Rupert Murdoch, who is 76.
Murdoch has said he wants to keep control of the company within his family.
James Murdoch had been head of the UK satellite TV broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC but will relinquish that role. He will also rejoin the board of News Corp, which owns about 38 percent of BSkyB.