WSJ entertainment industry reporter Flint talks about his reporting

Joe Flint

Wall Street Journal entertainment industry reporter Joe Flint talked about how he does his job.

Here is an excerpt:

Q: Take us through your process of reporting and writing. Where do you start, and what steps do you take next?
A: Depends on the story. If it is a feature story or a profile, I try to gather as much information as possible before approaching my subject. That means not only reading previous stories about the person or topic but also making lots of calls to people who know the person before I try to go directly to the person. A breaking news story is different. If that happens, you just start calling everyone you can think of who might have information about the story you’re chasing.
You cover some of the biggest names in the business: Disney, Netflix, WarnerMedia, CNN, HBO, CBS. Yet you’ve also written about gritty teen dramas and pro wrestling. Where do you find inspiration for such a range?
Ha! Those were fun features. I’m primarily a business reporter, but I’m always on the lookout for stories to break up the monotony. I need to be able to do more than earnings and “streaming wars” stories. I want to find unique stories that allow for a more creative approach in writing.

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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.