Media Movers: The Messenger’s Dawn Kopecki

It is officially time to welcome a new generation of journalists to the leadership table. But this crowd is doing things differently.

Generations of traditional newshounds followed a prescribed path: Toil away at a newswire or start at the small local daily, move to a bigger city and, if you were lucky, end up a place where the daily circulation topped 150,000. These days, journalists are taking jobs at startups – or starting publications themselves – where they experiment with different types of storytelling and delivery models that wouldn’t have worked in the print age. It’s a shift to which I’m paying careful attention.

This is why I chatted with Dawn Kopecki, an accomplished journalist whose resume includes CNBC, the San Antonio Express-News and Bloomberg. But for her latest act, she’s breaking the mold with soon-to-be-launched outlet The Messenger, where will take the reins as deputy business editor. I wanted to understand her new role and why we’re seeing journalists make similar moves. In our conversation, Dawn also described her first big scoop and how yoga keeps her calm during insane deadlines.

Dawn Wotapka: Congrats on your new job. Tell me about this new publication.

Dawn Kopecki: The Messenger is a new digital news platform that aims to deliver the highest quality reporting dedicated to accuracy, balance and timeliness. At a time where there is misinformation, bias and too much subjectivity in the media, the Messenger’s mission is to be objective and balanced while also entertaining readers.

Wotapka: When will it launch?

Kopecki: The Messenger launches in May with general news and politics. Over the coming months, we will launch  a number of distinct verticals, including, business and finance, entertainment, technology, health, purpose, food, sport, travel, and style.

Wotapka: You recently posted that you’re looking to hire. Have you had a lot of candidates? I’m curious about how many people want to be journalists these days.

Kopecki: We have had a tremendous response so far, with a lot of interest coming via word of mouth. There are still plenty of young journalists who want to tell interesting stories that illuminate, educate and uncover all that’s good and ugly about society.

Wotapka: What makes a good journalist in the digital age?

Kopecki: The same qualities that made journalists good when I started out in the mid-1990s with a pager and pay phone. You have to see all stories from multiple points of view; try to remain impartial and objective in telling the facts, even if you personally don’t agree with them; show up in person at events and interviews; and really work the phones. And, of course, take extreme pains to ensure your copy is accurate.

The only change in a digital age is the faster speed with which we all have to move. We sometimes have to build out breaking news one sentence at a time. At Dow Jones in 1999, we filed headlines a sentence at a time, but generally would have at least a minute or three to get a paragraph or two out. Today, you have to move even faster.

Wotapka: How is this different from when you started?

Kopecki: Readers have access to so much more news today. Smartphones and social media allow consumers to read and listen to original sourcing materials themselves, such as press announcements, live-streamed news conferences and police statements. They no longer have to wait for us to deliver it and put it in context. This is both good and bad as it gives readers a measure of confidence when they see us link to the original source of the news; they don’t have to trust that we give it to them in an unbiased way. They can see it for themselves.

But social media has also been abused by special interests to twist and distort facts, which can make our jobs harder and subject reporters to backlash when we report accurate information. Social media allows reporters to more directly reach readers. But the flip side is that it’s also allowed readers — with sometimes bad intentions — to more directly reach reporters with some truly horrible insults and even threats. While we had some of that at the beginning of the social media age, it wasn’t the degree to which reporters get harassed today. I’ve had to work with reporters on how to emotionally protect themselves from what can be an onslaught of negative feedback online, and to sometimes get security involved when necessary.

Wotapka: We’ve seen a string of seasoned journalists jumping to niche – and often new – publications. Why are we seeing so many new titles pop up?

Kopecki: I think there was some easy money to be had over the last five years with interest rates at record lows and investors looking for ways to get bigger returns. You saw startups blossom across a number of different industries, not just media. Starting a new media company today also isn’t as capital intensive as it was, say 20 or 30 years ago. Anyone with a laptop can start a newsletter or self-publish online.

You also have a new class of Gen X leaders who left legacy media outlets for one reason or another, grew tired of waiting for their turn at the top, or who simply want to try a new approach to journalism and see whether their ideas are better. You’re now seeing this with some Millennial journalists as well. Legacy media outlets come with an extreme amount of bureaucracy that slows down hiring, firing, projects, publishing enterprise and investigative stories and sometimes even the breaking news as entrenched teams jockey over turf.

Wotapka: What got you interested in journalism?

Kopecki: My 10th grade high school English teacher, Mrs. Denise Turoscy, pushed me to take Honors English and to write for the school newspaper. One of my first articles looked at how our high school, Northern Lehigh High School [in Slatington, Pa.], didn’t honor Martin Luther King Day — nor did it teach about the Civil Rights movement as part of its history curriculum. The article was noticed by the local press, was followed by the Allentown Morning Call and other local papers and TV outlets. I was asked to speak before the school board and honored by the local NAACP chapter after the school agreed to give us the day off and change its curriculum. I learned at a young age how powerful it was to simply shine a light on areas that don’t get a lot of illumination. I never looked back.

Wotapka: What has kept you in the field this long? I’m sure you could have jumped to PR long ago!

Kopecki: I cannot imagine a more intellectually challenging and fun job than the one I currently have.

Wotapka: Speaking of PR, fill them in on how they can best pitch your new publication. What are you looking for?

Kopecki: Introductions to CEOs, news before it’s announced, deals news, spilling the tea on executive changes before they are reported.

Wotapka: What should PR people avoid when working with you?

Kopecki: Placing me on press lists that have nothing to do with what we cover. New products are also not something I’ve had much success covering in the past. Unless it’s a new iPhone, any new Ford EV or some other big change at a well-known household brand, readers just don’t care. You’d be surprised, however, how much traffic stories on changes to Chipotle’s or McDonald’s menus get.

Wotapka: What are your thoughts on ChatGPT?

Kopecki: It’s the new Skynet.

Seriously, though, it has a lot of promise and risks for society as a whole. It’s a bit too early to say for sure, and I hope we use it responsibly. It’s a potentially powerful new tool that could automate some aspects of what we all do and businesses will, no doubt, eventually embrace it. Whether ChatGPT or another competitor becomes the dominant AI everyone uses in the future also remains to be seen.

Wotapka: Who has mentored you in your career?

Kopecki: I’ve been lucky to have had some amazing bosses, some of whom made a huge impact at pivotal points in my career and some who I’ve had lifetime friendships with. Magali Rheault was the research director at Kiplinger’s where I actually started my career. Anne Viegle plucked me out of Aspen when I was 25 and freelancing for the Denver Post (but mostly skiing) to cover local business. Both were strong female leaders I admired who helped steer me straight after a bumpy start out of Penn State.

My bureau chief at Dow Jones, John Connor, was a legend at the company who I’ve stayed in touch with since his retirement and have frequently turned to for advice over the years. All three were the toughest, most demanding bosses I’ve ever had and I learned and grew the most under their leadership. My older brother Steve has managed hundreds of people at Boeing and is often a sounding board, and our father Joe was a beloved manager at PPL and source for career advice before he passed away three years ago.

Wotapka: What is the best advice you ever received?

Kopecki: I was once told that you don’t really know a source until you’ve broken bread with them. I often pass that advice down to reporters. In this digital age, nothing replaces in-person meetings and calls.

Wotapka: Tell me about being a woman editor in a field still filled with so many middle-aged white men.

Kopecki: It really depends on who you work with and the leadership at the top. They set the tone for how a newsroom sees and treats female leaders. Some male (and female bosses) of all ages want strong leaders of all genders, races and sexual orientation, seeing that diversity as a strength. Often it’s as simple as giving them credit for their work and providing the resources they need to thrive.

Not all newsrooms or managers are the same, unfortunately. Talented people of different genders, races and sexual orientation can sometimes make other people feel threatened, which can lead to a host of poor treatment – unequal pay, fewer resources than peers, harsher scrutiny. It’s not fair or right, but it is a reality many of us have sometimes faced.

The Messenger’s commitment to newsroom diversity is one of the things that drew me to the organization.

Wotapka: I want to hear about the Hearst Management Institute. What did you learn there?

Kopecki: That was an intensive executive management program led by Hearst board member David Barrett, who ran the TV side for years. He spoke from experience, and brought in some of the best Ivy League management professors for a mini executive MBA program at Hearst.

Wotapka: You’re big into yoga. What keeps you going back to the mat?

Kopecki: Everyone needs something outside of work that keeps their mind and body healthy and active, that allows them to escape, whether it’s running, walking, tennis, skiing or gardening. For me, my mat is the only place I can shut off my brain and immerse myself in the moment. I’ve been practicing for more than 17 years, and it’s taught me patience, kindness, compassion to myself and others and, most importantly, to let go of ego.

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, you can contact her at dwotapka@gmail.com. Be sure to connect with Dawn on LinkedIn.