Media Movers: Cord Cutters News’ Roger Cheng

In his time at Dow Jones, CNET and now Cord Cutters News, Roger Cheng has made a name for himself by interviewing the people who have literally reshaped every facet of our daily lives. That’s something that not a lot of journalists can say.

Roger — who won a Best in Business award in 2011 for breaking news coverage from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) —  is now tasked with rebuilding Cord Cutter News. He promises lots of changes and improvements while staying true to the site’s mission of helping consumers.

And while he may be in the big leagues he hasn’t forgotten his small-town roots: He started out writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California long before newspapers had websites and mobile apps.

I chatted with Roger about getting back to the basics, his West Coast location and what he does for fun.

Dawn: Congrats on your new job! Tell me what you’ll be doing.

Roger: Thanks Dawn. I’ve taken on the role of editor-in-chief and vice president of content strategy for Cord Cutters News. That means I’ll be working with Luke Bouma, the owner of CCN, to set the direction of the site. But because it’s such a small staff and we’re in startup mode, I get to do a lot of hands-on writing and editing. It’s why I got into journalism, so I’m relishing the chance to get back to basics, so to speak.

Dawn: What makes Cord Cutters News different from other tech pubs?

Roger: Cord Cutters News is going through a bit of a reboot. Luke had previously sold the site to a company called Red Ventures — the parent company of my former employer, CNET — in 2020 and walked away. But he had a chance to reacquire it from Fandom earlier this year. So even though it has a great legacy of helping readers make the transition away from cable, we’re essentially still building it back up. That’s what attracted me to this role: a chance to start fresh on a site and really drive its direction. The site you see today isn’t what it will be in the coming months.

Beyond that, Luke brings a wealth of experience when it comes to the nuances of cord-cutting and it’s something the audience respects. I hope to lend my own expertise and talents to expanding the kinds of stories we tell.

Dawn: How is tech reporting different from covering other beats such as banking or real estate?

Roger: Every beat has its own language, jargon and code that industry folks speak. But with tech and telecom, that jargon changes every few years because the tech changes. I still remember using the term POTS (plain old telephone service) and the CDMA wireless standard when I started my telecom beat at Dow Jones, and now we’ve moved on to millimeter wave spectrum and machine learning. It never gets boring.

Dawn: You moved up the ranks at CNET. What did you learn about leadership in that process?

Roger: I’ve had a mix of great and terrible managers throughout my career and as I took on more of a leadership role, I tried to create a management style that took lessons from all of them in terms of what to do and not to do. I also learned that not one style of leadership fits every situation or every employee. I need to be flexible and empathetic when it comes to dealing with my team. I put a lot of thought into what my reporters need from a professional and developmental perspective.

Dawn: You spent time looking for a new job after CNET. What is it like looking for a journalism job these days?

Roger: It’s not a secret that the journalism job market is tough. But I was fortunate enough to have several opportunities open up when I started looking earlier this summer. I’ve found it’s really about whom you know and having those personal connections really helps. That’s a challenge for less experienced journalists who don’t have a network built out, so I would encourage them to take advantage of journalism groups, alumni associations and organizations like the Asian American Journalism Association. I didn’t start making those connections myself until I was a bit further along in my career and wished I’d begun earlier.

Dawn: You spent nearly a decade at Dow Jones, writing a lot for the wire. How does that work help you today?

Roger: Wire service work is some of the best journalism training there is. You learn to both think and write quickly. It also drills in fundamentals such as calling a company for comment or adding the right amount of context — and of course, adding a nut graf.

Dawn: You spent a lot of time reporting on the East Coast before relocating to the West Coast. What is different about being based in California versus reporting from New York City?

Roger: The biggest change is the time difference. By the time I log in, nearly half the day on the East Coast is gone. That’s pretty jarring, having spent much of my days in New York getting up early to get ahead of the news cycle. What this means is that while I’m still looking out for breaking news after the market closes, I’m also spending time trying to find less obvious but more interesting stories. I’m also remote here in Southern California versus the old CNET and Dow Jones newsroom in New York, which has also been a big adjustment.

Dawn: Looking back, how has covering technology changed during your career?

Roger: Around the time that Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone and companies like Google and Facebook could do no wrong, there was a bullishness about technology but also a naivete with the coverage. A lot of the focus was on the innovations and ways new technology could benefit your life. Tech journalists have to be far more rigorous and critical in their coverage. Sure, there’s room for excitement about new innovations, but we’re better at looking for those unintentional consequences and trying to stay ahead of those potential dangers. It’s been a steady shift that’s happened over the last decade but has really turned in the last few years.

Because technology is so pervasive, it’s forced tech writers and publications to expand beyond gadgets and developer conferences to really look at how tech affects every aspect of our lives. For instance, I had CNET reporters carve out time to tackle big issues like misinformation and hate speech on social media, or the effects of tech on climate change, because they’re important to readers. We were able to do it in a smart and insightful manner and that was one of the many things I was proud of about my time at CNET.

Dawn: While we’re reflecting, what is the best career advice that you’ve ever received?

Roger: I’ll cheat and offer two:

My former CNET boss, Connie Guglielmo, told me to never take things too seriously, which came in handy over the last few years with the pandemic.

Jim Kerstetter, who was the head of CNET News when he hired me, always stressed the importance of taking care of your reporters.

Dawn: What advice would you give to someone looking to break into journalism today?

Roger: Be prepared for low pay and little respect! Seriously, it’s getting tougher to be a journalist but that just means the job is more important than ever. It’s a chance to talk to different people and tell interesting stories. That you get paid to do that to me is amazing.

Dawn: How can PR people best pitch Cord Cutters News?

Roger: Feel free to pitch me at roger@cordcuttersnews.com. There’s also the general email account of info@cordcuttersnews.com. Also, be prepared to answer questions if I’m interested!

Dawn: Finally, what do you do for fun?

Roger: In between jobs, I spent time on Lego and model kits. But I mostly like to spend time with my family and especially my two young boys.

Dawn Wotapka is a former Wall Street Journal reporter who loves to read and write. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children. She is a slow runner and an avid Peloton user. To submit tips for her Media Movers column, connect with Dawn on LinkedIn.