Features: Alumni Applause
From OU to Wallstreet (cont.)

Johnson says the biggest difference between print and online media is in the process of gathering the news.

“Reporters who once only had to think about the words are now required to think about how to present their stories on a multimedia platform,” Johnson says. “In addition to words, they’ll need photos, video, audio, interactive maps, etc.”
In addition to working at WSJ.com, Johnson is in her second year as an adjunct teacher of the New Media Workshop at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

“Jennifer is fantastic,” says Duy Linh Tu, associate professor of journalism at Columbia University and Jennifer’s former professor. “She’s one of the youngest adjuncts at the school, and it’s her youthful energy that keeps the class going. She’s always ready to crack a joke to keep things light. But she’s also ready to crack the whip when it gets to crunch time.”

A DAY IN THE ONLINE WORLD: A quick pace and the challenge of daily newswriting keep OU alumna Jennifer Johnson on her toes. Johnson is an interactive news reporter for WSJ.com, a part of The Wall Street Journal.

At OU, Johnson’s work ethic led her to an active college career in journalism and other areas. She served as editor of The Oklahoma Daily in 2002. She was also a member of President’s Leadership Council and the scholarship director for the Delta Gamma sorority.

“While attending OU, Jennifer was a prototype student,” says Jack Willis, editorial adviser for The Oklahoma Daily. “She was always going above and beyond what any normal student would do.”

Johnson got her first experience working with online media while she was editor of The Daily. Part of her responsibility was the operation of the online news site, oudaily.com.

“Particularly with her interest in online journalism, that experience gave her a chance to see in hands-on, practical ways how stories can be presented in both print and online media,” says Twila Smith, director of OU Student Media. “She had a chance to see a side-by-side comparison of the strengths of each format.”

After graduating from OU in 2002 with a dual degree in journalism and political science, Johnson made her way to the East Coast for her second summer as an intern at the Boston Globe’s copy desk. In fall 2002, she began an intense 10-month program at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

“At OU, I mostly focused on the editing side of things,” Johnson says. “Knowing Columbia was a reporting school, I went there to hone my reporting and writing skills in the news capital of the world. I was able to immerse myself in the craft of journalism and was exposed to some great teachers and friends.”

Johnson graduated from Columbia in 2003 with a master’s in journalism. She wanted to stay on the East Coast but could not find a job, so she headed home to Oklahoma and intensified her job search. Finding the right fit didn’t happen overnight.

She flew to many places for interviews — ESPN.com, The Houston Chronicle and Forbes.com, among others — but no job offers came. She was starting to get frustrated, she says, but tried to keep busy during her search. She took computer classes and did some work for Willis and Smith at OU Student Media.

“I worked at one of those parking lot tents selling mums, pumpkins and bales of hay,” Johnson says. “It was fun, but it wasn’t journalism. And it certainly wasn’t the career I had been expecting.”

Johnson heard about an opening at The Muskogee Phoenix and reluctantly drove to the northeastern Oklahoma city to interview for the position.

“Despite my initial reservations, I am so happy I took the job,” Johnson says. “I learned a tremendous amount about editing and managing – skills I would never have learned if I had started at a big news organization.”

Johnson still is adjusting to life in New York City. Although she has been there for almost three years, she is amazed by the diversity of culture and cuisine, she says.

“In the warmer months, walking around the city is my favorite thing to do,” Johnson says. “People-watching in New York is the best. There are so many characters.”

She says she misses certain things about Oklahoma: mostly her family, but also Sonic, OU football game days and Wal-Mart.

Johnson says she hopes to be an influential player in determining the direction the industry is headed through Web journalism.

“I believe new media is the future of journalism, and I would really like to play a role in shaping that future,” she says.

Johnson says the most important thing she learned at OU is that a person should always go after what he or she wants. This philosophy has taken her to her current position, which she says ranks high on her list of dream jobs.

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