MEDIA MOVES: The Wall Street Journal, Cordilia James

Previous Role: Reporter at The Real Deal

New Role: Reporter Assistant at The Wall Street Journal

CJ: I cover personal technology, also known as PTECH. In this role, I help write and curate senior personal tech columnist Joanna Stern’s weekly newsletter, Tech Things, and report on the many ways new tech is changing our way of life.

CJ: I think my creative writing skills and my curiosity are the biggest success factors that helped me get to this new role. Journalism and creative writing are my bread and butter, and this role marries the two beautifully. I love playing with tone and voice in a way that breathes life into informative pieces, something that Joanna already excels at. Reading her columns/newsletter feels like you’re listening to a friend, which is more fun to read and easier for wider audiences to understand. That accessibility aspect of reporting is important to me, and I think my desire to replicate this writing style and my eagerness to learn more about technology helped me stand out. Being The Journal’s Life & Arts reporting intern in 2020 also helped, since many people there were already familiar with my work.

CJ: Expanding our audience will be the most challenging and most rewarding part of this role, I think. I want to grow our readership in a way that reaches wider demographics, including more young readers of color like myself. My hope is that their voices, questions, and perspectives will be better represented alongside our traditional readership in our newsletter and in our other PTECH coverage. After all, I fell in love with The Journal’s Life & Work and PTECH sections while I was in college. I want to share that love with others who are in that stage of their lives, and show all of our readers that there’s something to gain from having everyone be a part of the conversation.

Qwoted is committed to supporting the media by speaking to and highlighting journalists in their exploration of various roles. What changes are ahead? What learnings do you expect to be helpful in this new role?