WSJ Pro adds four editorial staffers

Kimberly Johnson, editor of professional products at The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following announcement:

Dear Colleagues,

I’d like to introduce the newest members of WSJ Pro:

Jana Zabkova returns to WSJ Pro as a senior publishing editor on our new, integrated editing desk. Jana, a 15-year veteran of Dow Jones, is returning to the Pro team after a stint on the sixth floor publishing desk. She was previously deputy editor of WSJ Pro Financial Regulation, helping oversee a team of seven reporters and bureau-editing their stories for both the Journal and the Pro product. Before that she was on the U.S. News desk for four years, most of that time spent as night editor. Earlier, Jana worked for the Journal in London and Brussels. Originally from Slovakia, Jana now lives in Jersey City with her husband.

Ted Bunker is our new deputy editor for WSJ Pro Private Equity. Ted has more than 30 years of reporting and editing experience, covering everything from crime and disasters to politics, government, business, finance, markets and investing as well as technology. He joins us from S&P Global and has previously worked for Bloomberg News, the Boston Herald and Investor’s Business Daily among other publications. As a freelancer, he has served as a pop, jazz and rock concert reviewer and contributed news stories to publications that include The Economist, The New York Times and Time. A Massachusetts native, Ted’s son and daughter live and work in Boston. Despite currently residing in Hell’s Kitchen, he has happily found a neighborhood taproom that puts on Red Sox and Patriots games when he’s around.

Jared Council joins as a reporter for WSJ Pro Artificial Intelligence. Jared comes to us from New Jersey-based Real Estate Alert, where his coverage included scoops on some of the largest commercial real estate deals in the country. Previously, he spent more than three years as the technology reporter at the Indianapolis Business Journal, where he covered startups and large tech enterprises such as Salesforce and Angie’s List. While there he launched a tech-focused newsletter that, within its first year, won a gold award from the American Association of Business Publications. Jared also had stops at Inside Business (Norfolk, Va.) and the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press, covering banking, higher education, local government and crime along the way. He is a graduate of Hampton University. Originally from the “Delco” suburbs of Philadelphia, he now lives in Union, N.J., with his wife. Jared joins deputy editor John McCormick and reporter John Murawski to round out our new Pro AI team.

Isaac Taylor joins the group as a production assistant. An alumnus of Georgia Southern University, he previously worked as the communications coordinator for the Society of Professional Journalists. While there, he wrote press releases and contributed to Quill magazine. Isaac also oversaw SPJ’s newsletters and social media accounts and analytics. On weekends, you can catch him in the library with a good book or playing a casual game of baseball.

All four are based in New York. Please join me in welcoming them.