Why there’s so much hiring in biz journalism these days

Ellen Pollock, the business editor of the New York Times, talked with Roben Farzad of Full Disclosure about the demand for business journalists in today’s media world.

“It’s constantly busy, and it’s really exciting” to be covering business news stories, said Pollock.

Farzad asked Pollock if she was surprised by the announcement that The Wall Street Journal, where she previously worked, was hiring 36 new editorial positions.

“I’m a little less shocked than I would have been a year ago,” said Pollock. “What’s been gratifying…is that despite the fact that reporters are being disparaged and there’s all this talk about fake news, readers want access to carefully reported news and are still willing to pay for it.”

Pollock noted that many business stories have been more complicated and now require the expertise of people who know politics and technology. “A huge amount of work goes into the stories that we do now, and people are starting to realize the value of news,” she said.

Pollock said she’s done a fair amount of hiring on the New York Times business news desk in the past two years.

“We’ve hired a lot of economics reporters,” she said. “We’ve hired a lot of finance reporters. We’ve hired a lot of tech reporters. It is a good time to be in business journalism.”

To listen to the full interview, go here.