Oliver Darcy of Status writes about the issues facing the overhaul of technology coverage at The Wall Street Journal.
Darcy writes, “Of course, the issue with corrections did not happen in a vacuum. It came in the wake of Editor-In-Chief Emma Tucker overhauling the technology desk last year, firing longtime editor Jason Dean and pink-slipping about a dozen others in the bureau. According to people familiar with the matter, those changes have, in part, manifested themselves in the spate of sloppy mistakes warranting formal corrections. The people I spoke with said the errors can largely be chalked up to new organizational workflow issues. Indeed, it should come as little surprise that a slew of messy firings would have repercussions.
“Outside the issue with corrections, I’m told morale on the technology desk remains far from ideal after Tucker took a sledgehammer to the Bay Area bureau. Some people familiar with the internal dynamics of the technology team described the mood as mixed, while others said it is downright terrible.
“What seems clear is that The Journal is still grappling with the aftershocks of the firings. In recent months, a handful of technology reporters have exited: Sebastian Herrera, Katherine Blunt, and Sean McClain (technically, McClain had transitioned from covering Amazon to covering the auto industry for a month or so before leaving). Dan Gallagher, who wrote about technology as a columnist, also recently departed, though he did not report directly into the tech team. It’s not clear why every journalist left, but I am told that for some, last year’s firings and the broader work environment contributed to their decision.”
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