The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are preparing to do battle Monday as the Journal launches its long-anticipated New York metro section.

But the promotional approaches could not be more different.

The Journal has all but kept silent about the plans, with the only formal acknowledgement of the new section coming from News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch a few weeks ago.

The Journal is planning a breakfast launch party Monday morning at The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, but with little hint at what the new section might offer. A spokesperson said no information will be given or questions answered until the big unveiling.

At the Times, meanwhile, they are glad to speak out about the venture and how the Times will not be beat. During a conference call this week, New York Times Company CEO Janet L. Robinson threw down the gauntlet:

“We don't shy away from the competition. We never have, and we never will ... We fully understand how to compete and in fact, we enjoy it. The facts are the facts,” she said, according to Associated Press.

“We've had many competitors, not just one, for many years due to the fact that we've competed against all advertising categories, due to the broad coverage that we've had in the paper forever. We are aggressively competing not only with the content, but also with a lot more innovation and customizing of advertising packages, and, you know, one of the things that I think people have to recognize is that people know what they get, even when it's free.”

Scott Heekin Canedy, Times president and general manager, described the counteroffensive plans to me as “blocking and tackling.” He said there will be more hawkers on the street Monday and more distribution.

Times officials also offered up a slew of data showing the newspaper's standing in circulation ad revenue and penetration of high-end consumers.

It declares the paper has: “a combined audience of 19 million readers in print and online; delivers an outstanding household net worth of almost $800 million in the New York DMA alone; has a weekday print readership of 827,000 among business professionals in the New York DMA; and has a weekday paid print circulation of 428,000 in the New York DMA.”

Heekin Canedy said at least 45% of Journal readers in the New York area also read the Times each day.

But the Times is also going up against Murdoch, who has made clear he wants to knock them down a notch and does not mind losing money on New York newspapers, such as the profit-poor New York Post.

Still, will this Journal venture prove worthwhile?

“It has been a truism of the newspaper business that it has been financially unwise to try to enter a market that has been well-served by an established newspaper,” newspaper analyst John Morton told me. “But Murdoch marches to a different drummer. He wants to the make The Wall Street Journal a more general-interest newspaper. He is going to do what he wants to do.”

Morton adds that the impact on the Times will likely not be huge: “Whenever you have competition come on to your turf, you will lose something. But I don't think it is going to have a significant impact on them.”