WSJ editor praises Boston coverage

Wall Street Journal managing editor Gerard Baker sent out the following email to the staff on Tuesday morning:

Few stories in recent years have been as immanent in their scope or as diffuse in their provenance and ramifications as the events that unfolded in Boston last week.

From the moment the explosions occurred at the Marathon last Monday, right up to yesterday’s breakthrough story on the bomber’s family, Wall Street Journal staff converged from all corners to produce some of the finest breaking news coverage anywhere.

Reporters, editors, photographic staff, designers and others threw themselves at this story – often spontaneously, without waiting to be asked or assigned, generously offering their time and reporting resources.

Critical contributions came from Boston itself, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Canada, London, Moscow, Beijing and elsewhere. In New York, teams from Greater New York, Business News,
Financial News, the Sports and Law groups pitched in too.

You all combined to support peerless coverage on our digital platforms, through social media, with video, graphics and compelling photography, and of course in print.

The commitment has been unstinting and the efforts indefatigable. I am especially gratified that our reporting of such a rapidly evolving story was at all times diligent, sober and rigorous. As wild rumor and unreliable internet gossip quickly became headline news, we stuck to the standards that serve our readers: proper sourcing, verified reporting and accurate and rigorous editing.

All this in the face of a story that was both emotionally intense and prolonged. Many staff worked right through the night last Thursday as the pursuit of the suspects unfolded and on through the next day and night.

It is always invidious to attempt to single out any individuals but we owe very special thanks to some in particular.

— Jennifer Levitz, Jon Kamp, Lisa Fleisher and Andrew Grossman responded right away on Monday and stepped in during the crucial hours when the story was breaking.
—Josh Dawsey was everywhere all the time, filing, digging up records and landing interviews. Jennifer Smith and Pervaiz Shallwani also were among the many on the ground who distinguished themselves; Pervaiz pulling an all-nighter during Thursday night and Friday morning’s dramatic events;
–In DC, Evan Perez and Devlin Barrett pressed on their sources all week (while also dogging the ricin story), and pulled all-nighters themselves;
–In Russia, Alan Cullison and Paul Sonne jumped into action when the connection to Dagestan became clear, making inroads with the family that no other organization could approach.

Among editors, Betsy McKay of Atlanta and Kirsten Danis and Michael Amon of Greater New York, worked tirelessly with reporters, shaping our stories and guiding our reporters in the field with elegance and wisdom; the DC editing team, especially Peter Landers and Matthew Rose, showed great judgment and presence of mind amid chaotic events while shepherding vast amounts of copy; Bruce Orwall stepped in to orchestrate the masterful leder on the family and help organize coverage as the story crossed the Atlantic; and the web team, led by Sheila Courter, Christine Glancey, Brian Fitzgerald and Jennifer Hicks, kept the web site lively and engaging all week. The master of ceremonies, Jennifer Forsyth, balanced all of it — and Texas and ricin — with the insight and aplomb that have made the Wall Street Journal a serious player in US News in a way it had never been before.

Thanks to your commitment, perseverance, rigor and judgment, we demonstrated we can cover these stores as comprehensively as anyone and more accurately, more sharply and more intelligently than the rest.