Why a NY Times biz reporter loves her beat

Stephanie Strom

New York Times food business writer Stephanie Strom spoke to Edible Manhattan about her job and cooking.

Here is an excerpt:

I’ve been at the Times since 1988. Much of that was spent covering retail business, Wall Street, Japan and the nonprofit world. Then about six years ago this (food business writer) position opened up and a former editor told me to put my hand up. So I put my hand up. That editor knew how much I loved food, that I was the type of person who’d spend her lunch break wandering around the Greenmarket, ogling produce (it’s like pornography).
They were right — this is the perfect beat for me. Food intersects with so many things, and it’s so of-the-moment. It’s funny to be a food reporter in the business section, though. Most of my editors aren’t big foodies, so I sometimes find myself having to convince them a story is actually important or that our readers will be interested in it. They’ll say, “Oh, that’s just a foodie phenomenon” even when it’s much bigger than that. Part of my job is to be a salesman for the stories I write.

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.