Exploring Journalism with a Wall Street Journal Reporter

What you’re reading right now–The Beacon and this article–is journalism. Writing for newspapers, magazines, news websites, and broadcasting news using visual elements is collectively regarded as journalism. Many AISG students chose to take the course “journalism” because 1. they had to do it for CAS; 2. they didn’t have anything else to do; or in the best case scenario, 3. they truly wanted to improve their writing and learn about the field of journalism. Then is anyone in AISG, hopefully one of the staff members of The Beacon, interested in pursuing journalism in his or her future?

This summer, I attended a camp at Hong Kong University to learn about finance, and many guest speakers from diverse backgrounds came to share their knowledge. Steven Russolillo, a journalist at Wall Street Journal who mainly writes about international finance, was one of them. When he finished his speech, he shared his email address and LinkedIn as he answered some students’ questions. I was fortunate to hastily write down his email address on my phone and be able to contact him via email. Two months ago, I emailed him some basic interview questions to research further into my article topic. My first email was ignored, perhaps due to the overwhelming amount of emails in Mr. Russolillo’s inbox. My second email was also ignored, despite my effort to make my email stand out among my competing emails by titling it “PLEASE READ: Interview Questions”. My third email, which was titled “Can You PLEASE Reply??? I need your Interview Responses”, was finally able to draw his attention and make him reply to my email. He was perhaps annoyed by my series of follow-up emails, but he still replied to my questions with an utmost effort (which I’m very appreciative of), evidenced by the length and quality of his replies.

Q&A Interview with Mr. Steven Russolillo

Q1: What are the most important characteristics a good journalist should have (e.g. journalistic honesty, researching skills, interview)?

Be a good listener. More than half the battle is truly being able to listen to others and be aware of what’s really happening in your coverage area. Yes, a good journalist must be honest, know how to research and inform the public about the most important issues happening in a particular beat. But truly listening and understanding people’s mindsets, motivations and interests is one of the key distinctions between good journalists and great journalists.

Q2: Do you have any tips on how to improve one’s journalistic writing skills (e.g. read a lot of newspaper, study vocabulary words, etc.)?

Read as much as you can in a variety of different media outlets around the world. It’s good to identify some of your personal favorite journalists and study their writing crafts. But beyond that, I’d say it’s equally important to make sure to regularly read many different newspapers/websites/etc. to get a better understanding of how different issues are covered around the world.

Q3: When do you feel that your work is meaningful? Can you provide a specific example?

As a financial journalist, I find my work is most meaningful when I’m able to better inform investors about situations in markets or finance that they otherwise didn’t know about or understand beforehand. That can include offering insightful analysis around the risks for a particular asset class or a better understanding how certain markets operate. The hope is that my work sparks debate, where some agree and others disagree, but ultimately people are better off in the end after having followed my work.

Q4: What are some hardships a journalist faces? How should journalists prepare themselves for possible criticism?

I’m particularly worried about the term “fake news.” It’s a phrase that has been misconstrued to mean something much different than what it really is. Actual “fake news” is something that has absolutely zero truth and is a complete fabrication. But now, people often use “fake news” to describe articles or stories that don’t agree with their agenda or points of view (even though the details in the articles are in fact true). The more that the term “fake news” is thrown around, the more that the general public loses trust in journalists and the broader media industry. To address this concern, journalists need to do what they do best — do thorough reporting, write great stories and continue to be tough yet fair to all sources involved in the crafting of each article.

Q5: For those who aspire to become journalists, can you give any tip or suggestion on what they should do to become successful? For example, do you have to major in journalism to become a journalist? What specific steps should people take?

It helps to study journalism in university but it’s not 100% necessary. I’d say it’s much more important to get real-life experience; write for your student newspaper, get multiple internships, and freelance for a variety of publications. The real-world experience and the articles that you produce are so valuable to starting your career and ultimately becoming a successful journalist. And along those lines, if there is a particular subject matter or area of interest that you’d like to cover — like business, politics, sports, etc. — find out the best publications that cover those issues and reach out to as many people as possible that work for them to learn more. This could include editors, reporters, current employees, former employees, etc. It’s called networking. The more you network, the more that people know who you are and the greater your odds of landing that dream job.

Mr. Russolillo’s detailed responses made the long wait worth it. As a student who is partially interested in pursuing a career in journalism, I realized that a person cannot become a good journalist just because he or she is a good writer. A journalist must abide to the ethics of journalism such as originality and journalistic honesty when publishing articles. A journalist must possess integrity to face and tolerate the inevitable negative/derogatory comments from the readers. A journalist must also find a balance between writing articles that intrigue readers’ attention and writing articles that positively impact society. I hope the Q&A Interview Session with Mr. Russolillo helps you, if you consider pursuing a career in journalism, learn about the responsibilities and prerequisites of a journalist.