“At the core of what a reporter does is ask questions,” said Emily Nelson ’91 at Middle and Upper School assemblies this week as part of the School’s Alum Perspectives speaker series. “Being curious is the most important quality–to ask why, to identify what they don’t know and what they want to know. I know these are things that you all do at Spence every day.”

 

Nelson is the US News Coverage Chief at the Wall Street Journal. She is part of the leadership of the Journal’s expansion into general news, moving beyond its core business and political coverage. She runs a team of editors and reporters across the country who cover breaking news, national economics and politics, and other issues such as immigration, religion and education.

Nelson explained that for a newsroom, a typical work day begins by deciding which news stories are the most important and interesting to tell, which stories should be posted on the Wall Street Journal’s website and which should be presented on the front page. She unpacked both the daily editorial process and the behind-the-scenes process of how the different editions of a daily paper are designed and printed. She shared with students a few examples of how the Journal’s front page evolved over the course of the day, as the news begins to filter in and reporters file their stories.

 

Nelson had planned her talk with many opportunities for students to weigh in on what matters in reporting. “With newspapers, it’s not just words that tell the story,” she said. “We also use photos and graphics that can create a certain impression.” Nelson displayed three photos her editors were considering for a story on President Trump visiting with European leaders in France. Students explained which option they were inclined to choose and why. “This is just the kind of debate that would happen in a newsroom, because every time you look at a photo, you find out something different about it,” Nelson remarked after hearing student comments. “Something we can do as readers is take a look at all the little choices in a story or in a photo and think about how they are effecting our impression of the news that we’re taking in.”

 

Following the two assemblies, a group of students, including the staff of The Voice student newspaper had the opportunity to gain more insights from Nelson about her work and careers in journalism.