MarketWatch names Jagannathan its inequality editor

MarketWatch.com head of content Jeremy Olshan sent out the following on Friday:

I am pleased to announce that Meera Jagannathan is promoted to the new position of Inequality Editor. 

In this vital role, Meera will work across the MarketWatch newsroom with editors and reporters to guide and shape our coverage of the financial dimensions of race, identity and inequality in all its forms.

This is a core MarketWatch project. As I have said before, MarketWatch was founded on the principle of democratizing financial information: There is an information asymmetry in every economic transaction, and too often most people are outgunned, so we strive with our journalism to help level the playing field for all investors, consumers and humans.

I am proud of that ethos, but it is not enough. Our culture and society have made strides, but too often on a treadmill. Financial media, and MarketWatch in particular, need to do more to meaningfully cover business, markets, money and personal finance through the lens of race, gender and justice.

As a reporter and editor on our personal finance team, Meera has pushed the newsroom, and me personally, to improve our coverage of the financial facets of racism, sexism, ableism and ageism. She has led by example in her own coverage, and in editing The Value Gap, a fantastic interview series with notable people in politics, business, science and the arts, about approaches to reducing inequities.

This is Meera’s new job description, but you should consider it yours, too. So don’t just congratulate Meera; work with her.

Jeremy