A biz journalist’s favorite story

Andi Esposito, who is now the managing editor of the Worcester Telegram, writes about her favorite story while working for the paper.

Esposito writes, “Looking back over 27 years with the Telegram & Gazette, most of it spent as business editor, I covered thousands of stories. But these three remain most memorable.

“Fax machines were the new technology the day Editor Ken Botty called me to his office and announced that he was sending me to Japan for as long as it took to figure out why this powerhouse economy seemed poised to surpass the United States in so many economic measures.

“I set the course for the story series and interviews I would have by deciding to track down Japanese companies with factories here and Worcester-area businesses with operations there. Both sides of the equation had plenty of examples and lots to say. I was gone a month.

“The series, ‘Trading Places,’ which won the John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business and Financial Journalism in 1988, revealed an Asian business sensibility key elements of which would eventually be adopted by American companies, but also uncovered Japanese shortcomings, including a cultural rigidity that couldn’t understand American innovation and entrepreneurism.

“I got to ride the bullet train, drink sake, bathe in outdoor hot springs and get lost repeatedly in Tokyo subways.”

Read more here.