Labor reporter Trottman leaves WSJ

Labor reporter Melanie Trottman announced Monday that she’s among the business journalists leaving the Wall Street Journal due to a buyout.

Trottman has been at Dow Jones Newswires or The Journal since 1991.

A graduate of Northwestern University, Trottman started as a reporter assistant, copy editor and then a health care reporter for Dow Jones Newswires from 1991 to 2000.

In 2000, she became an airline and travel reporter in the Journal’s Dallas bureau. In 2008, Trottman moved to the Washington bureau to become a consumer product and safety reporter.

She’s covered labor and economic issues since then.

In a farewell message to her colleagues, Trottman wrote:

WASHINGTON–Thanks to all who’ve contributed to a rich and varied experience that has spanned three cities, five beats and nearly 13.2 million minutes.

I will be forever proud of the journalism I’ve produced at a great publication with even greater people.

I was able to cover airlines and online travel when sites like Orbitz were just an idea and people could still greet arriving family at an airport gate. I got to be part of the team that chronicled the industry’s transformation after 9/11. One assignment I still can’t believe I was paid to do: A leder that required me to fly business class from Dallas to London to compare the service in coach (the return flight was far less enjoyable.) I even managed to slip in some romance … the Journal said yes to a Valentine’s Day A-Hed about people who’d fallen in love on planes and in airports.

I’ve interviewed scientists working on future blockbuster drugs (I still know too much about side effects than is healthy for any person) and talked with industry titans, small-business owners, union leaders, government officials and workers struggling to get by on minimum wage.

One of my all-time favorites: In 2008, from simply talking to family and friends, I got wind of a groundswell of African-Americans planning a modern-day pilgrimage to Washington to witness the inauguration of America’s first black president. The story ran out front and other publications followed it.

I would never have predicted that my first job out of college at Dow Jones Newswires would turn into such a long adventure and a graduate degree of sorts. I’m not sure where it will lead next but it seemed like an opportune time to explore that.

I could go on and on as all my fine editors know but the voice and image of one of them still haunts me: Neal Templin, leaning over my shoulder as deadline loomed, saying, “Push the button Trottman!”

Yes sir!