WSJ to expand “Future of Everything” with new monthly print section

Wall Street Journal editor Matt Murray sent out the following announcement on Monday:

Dear All:

From its first appearance as a special section in 2014 to mark the Wall Street Journal’s 125th anniversary, the Future of Everything has grown to be one of the WSJ’s most vibrant and appealing franchises. We’ve given our audience a series of beautiful glossy FOE magazines and two newsprint sections this spring, a prizewinning podcast, a rapidly growing newsletter and a beautiful new digital hub. In May we hosted for the second time the hugely successful Future of Everything Festival at Spring Studios in New York. All of this has opened up a new way to cover the next waves of technology, science, management, and culture, and how they are redefining the way we work and play.

Happily, we’re planning to significantly expand the franchise next year, with a much bigger digital presence and a new monthly print section that will run with the Friday Wall Street Journal, starting in January. The Friday WSJ is already an outstanding print package with two must-read news sections and our popular Mansion section, and this addition will help make it even more alluring.

I’m pleased to announce that Stefanie Ilgenfritz will take on editorial supervision of FOE along with her current position as health and science bureau chief. She will be the lead editor of the monthly section and all our digital content, working alongside our colleagues in Live Journalism and Audio to align with their FOE work.

As you all know, Stefanie brings an outstanding record as a journalist and a newsroom leader to her newest role. Over her career with Dow Jones, she has helped shape some of our best prize-winning journalism, including as co-editor on a series of stories on fraud and abuse in Medicare that won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 2015, and editor of a series on the dysfunction in drug prices that was a finalist for the Pulitzer in explanatory reporting in 2016. She will continue to report to Jamie Heller as health/science chief and will report to Mike Miller as FOE editor.

Leigh Kamping-Carder, FOE’s superb digital director, will continue in that role and report to Stefanie. Stefanie and Leigh will be working with Larry Rout and his special report team on the print sections. Kim Last will continue her terrific work as editorial director of the Festival and pop-up FOE events throughout the year. Our new executive producer of audio, Kateri Jochum, will oversee the FOE podcast.

Below is a 2020 calendar of the themes each monthly FOE section will focus on, and I would like to see all of our bureaus find ways to contribute to these important new reports. Meanwhile, we are continuing to publish FOE stories online here so please send Stefanie and Leigh story pitches, and send Kateri and Stefanie pitches for the podcast.

01/10 – Future of Work

02/14 – Future of Energy / Climate

03/13 – Future of Sports

04/10 – Future of AI

05/08 – Future of Everything  (FOE Festival)

06/12 – Future of Money

07/10 – Future of Transportation

08/14 – Future of Education / Learning

09/11 – Future of Health

10/09 – Future of Cybersecurity

11/13 – Future of Equality

12/11 – Future of  Home

Matt