A veteran helps a new business reporter

Elizabeth McIntyre, the editor of Crain’s Cleveland Business, writes about how reporter Stan Bullard, who has been at the paper since 1986, sits next to Lydia Coutré, who just joined the paper to cover health care and nonprofits.

McIntyre writes, “Lydia is just two years out of college and she’s now getting a master class in business journalism. Like Stan, Lydia works hard to inform our readers every day. No doubt, she’ll one day have tales to tell to a new generation of journalists around a conference table far into the future. They’ll laugh about her iPhone the way we do about the old Selectric.

“Stan and Lydia sit next to each other at Crain’s, which results in a wonderful blend of generations. We’re a small group, only 17 of us in the newsroom, between reporters, editors and production folks. But the range of ages is our strength — from 20s to 60s. We are millennials, Gen X-ers and baby boomers. Some are renting their second or third apartments, others are chasing toddlers around their first home, some are sending kids to college, and a few have paid off their mortgages and are welcoming grandkids.

“There’s lots of talk about diversity these days in business, and for good reason. We are committed to diversity at Crain’s because we all gain from shared awareness and from a broad spectrum of perspectives. Diversity includes intergenerational diversity.”

Read more here.