Categories: OLD Media Moves

Newman, who wrote more than 500 WSJ A-heds, retires

Jim Romenesko reports that Barry Newman, who wrote more than 500 page one features for The Wall Street Journal, is retiring.

Romenesko writes, “Newman has written over 500 A-heds in his 43 years at the paper. (The page one Journal feature is called an A-hed.) His first ran on Dec. 3, 1970, and his most recent — a piece on apostrophes — was published in the print edition on May 16.

“‘There are generations of people, like me, whose idea of what a story could be – or even what journalism could be – was redefined by Barry’s work,’ says Journal reporter Conor Dougherty.

“In his retirement, Newman will serve as a Journal writing coach, ‘working with Page One to encourage, advise and console reporters who are in the throes of doing WSJ A-heds,’ he tells Romenesko readers.

“‘CUNY Journalism Press has also asked me to put together a story collection, interwoven with instructional and, I hope, amusing essays on how I got the ideas and did the reporting and writing. It’s due next April.’

“His favorite stories?”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.