Leslie Eaton, the Dallas bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following staff promotion announcement on Monday:
We’ve got some news out of the Lone Star State:
Miguel Bustillo, a mainstay of the Texas bureau, has been named deputy bureau chief, effective immediately. Miguel joined the WSJ in 2008 after 15 years at the Los Angeles Times, where he was a national correspondent and covered state government. At the Journal, Miguel has chronicled the rise and fall of big-box stores, limned the downward spiral at Sears, and explained exactly why Best Buy is in so much trouble. Now Miguel is bringing his retailing expertise, political savvy, deft writing and calm demeanor to Dallas, where he and his family will relocate this summer from Houston. Miguel, who graduated from NYU, is the only reporter in Texas who does not own even a single pair of cowboy boots.
Stepping into his Nikes will be Shelly Banjo, whose most recent job at the Journal has been covering Connecticut for Greater New York and who was co-author of that excellent leder detailing how slow banks are to foreclose on million-dollar mansions. Shelly started with the paper as an intern in the Chicago bureau, earned her spurs covering philanthropy and personal finance, and is a fount of energy and story ideas. A native of Dallas (she does own boots), Shelly graduated from Northwestern University, and is in the process of getting her MBA from NYU’s Stern School. She will take over the big-box retailing beat May 1, working with Ann Zimmerman, and will move down to Dallas later this spring after her b-school classes end.
