We Read 7,000 WSJ Articles in Two Weeks — and These Were the Most Memorable
At The Wall Street Journal, we have a team of strategy leaders who work directly with reporters and editors to drive digital excellence. These editors recently dug deeply into more than a year’s worth of Journal coverage to identify what most resonates with our audiences. The Journal produces an incredible amount of terrific work every week. Our goal is to make sure it connects with as many people as possible.
We spent two weeks reading and tagging a random sample of 7,000 articles to give us a useful and tangible sense of what’s working. The breadth, depth and range of the storytelling often took our breath away. Here are some of our favorites:
Kevin Dubouis, Strategy Editor for World
I read 1,000 articles from WSJ, and this is the story that I will remember: Lee Hawkins’ incredible reporting teaches us about the life and murder of Devon Wade. Informed by his own upbringing in a low-income Houston neighborhood, Devon was a promising Ph.D. student researching the consequences of poverty and incarceration on families, especially children. His mentors said he would change the world: “What’s so difficult for all of us is that we felt if anyone could escape these cycles of violence it would be someone as talented and kind as Devon.” This great piece helps preserve his legacy. Once you start reading it, there is no way you will be able to stop.
Chao Li, Strategy Editor for Weekend/Life & Arts
I really loved this interactive because it visualized who voted, how they voted, and it gave me a breakdown of the country by region. The interactive changes to a more detailed breakdown of votes by region, paired with an explanation of the modern and historical context of how people voted. I feel like this really helped me understand voting and regional politics in a different country, something I’m always fascinated by.
Becky Bowers, Strategy Editor for Washington
This piece by Jon Emont, an enterprise reporter based in Singapore, is emblematic of WSJ’s deep reporting and reach around the globe. It doesn’t just highlight the way Amazon has “aggressively recruited Chinese manufacturers and merchants to sell to consumers outside the country.” It also identifies how they represent a high proportion of problem listings found on the site, which in turn squeeze American sellers who sell legitimate versions of those products. Amazon said it investigated the items, and some listings were taken down after the Journal’s reporting. The company added, “We work hard to stop bad actors before they can impact the shopping or selling experience in our store.”
The Journal’s package combines data reporting with shoe-leather interviews and portraits of real people and products to deeply explain the roots of a pernicious everyday problem. I needed to keep tagging, but I couldn’t stop reading. (My other fav: “The Secret to a Great Shirley Temple.” As charming as the actor herself!) )
Steve Russolillo, Strategy Editor for Corporate
There is a reason Jason Gay is such a beloved WSJ writer. A sports and humor columnist, his words often have a lasting impact, no matter the subject. This one particularly stood out during our tagging exercise. It was published on March 15, right at the beginning of the pandemic. As the headline shows, only Jason could marry such a serious subject — “Please Stay Home” — with a lighter touch — “Talk to Your Pets.” Months into this pandemic, his words ring true more than ever.
Anthony DeRosa, Strategy Editor for U.S. News, Investigative, Special Projects
This story stopped me in my tracks. We were reading 1,000 articles each, and needed to move fast, but I was engrossed by this harrowing and moving account about a father. Through a series of events, he locates, saves and ultimately loses his grandchildren. It began when his daughter, who defected to ISIS, was killed in one of the caliphate’s last battles. The story led me to follow up on the previous events we reported on throughout this series about the father. The photos, presentation, story, everything comes together in a captivating package.
Krista Kjellman Schmidt, Strategy Editor for Finance
The first photograph–a boy, bandanna around his nose, mouth, and neck, holding a rifle, leading a line of more young boys–is arresting. The first sentence about how 13-year-old Luis Gustavo Morales can barely do basic math, but “already knows how to handle a shotgun nearly as tall as he is” is more so. This story, through its vivid words and photography, transports you to an indigenous village in the mountains of southern Mexico to understand the very real and difficult decision the community made in arming their children to fight the local drug cartel. The stakes are incredibly high–preserving the village’s independence from the cartel, the loss of 26 residents to murder in the last year. It’s stories like these that help you understand the stakes, understand the challenges, and realize we have so much work to do as a global community. (My other favorite: “How Google Edged Out Rivals and Built the World’s Dominant Ad Machine.” A great example of how using the right storytelling format at the right time can clearly illuminate the unfamiliar or complex. )
Leslie Yazel, Programming Strategy Editor
This article, even without quoting the victim, puts a human face on what happens when a robocall results in a financial scam. It highlights the frustration people experience in trying to get their money back and how financial institutions can effectively silence people on this issue. The reporter spoke with the victim’s son in order to reveal his father’s story without violating the father’s NDA with the bank, and the 100-plus comments show the many emotions around this issue and the ongoing debate about who is responsible when fraud occurs.
Soph Warnes, Strategy Editor for Visuals
Graphics: I really like that this takes a fun and engaging approach to personal finance, and lays out different options for people to demonstrate how their “nest egg” changes based on important life decisions. It’s great to see something like this that has the ability to empower people to take control of their finances.
Photos: I was blown away by these intimate photos of an intensive-care unit by Duncan Grossman, a young doctor who was reassigned to the unit. The photos show the chaotic rhythms of life in an ICU during the pandemic: urgent care and life-saving decisions juxtaposed with the banality of doctors scrolling through their phones in biohazard bags.
