Radio business news, from the 'burbs

Brian Hallenbeck of the New London Day in Connecticut profiles Joe Connolly, the Wall Street Journal employee who does the business news on WCBS radio every morning in the New York market from his office in nearby Essex.

Hallenbeck writes, “Ensconced in a third-floor office at the top of the town’s picturesque Main Street, the 57-year-old Journal reporter crafts 15 business reports a day for WCBS Newsradio 880 and Boston’s WRKO, his broadcast voice as familiar to listeners as their city’s skyline. Most of the bits run 70 to 75 seconds, some as long as 90 seconds.

â€?’I’m late for my headline,’ Connolly tells a couple of visitors at 9:05, referring to a teaser to promote the story he’ll use to lead his opening-bell report at 9:35. Of more immediate concern is his 9:25. Or maybe decompressing from his 8:55. Breathing techniques he learned in a stress-reduction course a couple of years ago help.

“The clock doesn’t. In fact, the one on the wall in front of him is a liar, 10 minutes fast by design.

“Connolly does his newsgathering at a computer, constantly scanning wire-service feeds and financial sites and pounding out a script on the keyboard. His day begins around 4:30, when he travels from his Essex home to Old Saybrook to pick up newspapers and a coffee.”

Read more here.