"The best stories go beyond numbers...they bring you right to the heart of the human consequences." Twitter Q&A with Finance Reporter, Reed Alexander
To help our readers get to know the people that power our newsroom, we host live Twitter conversations called #TheInsideStory on our @InsiderInc account with reporters and editors from our Business, Life, and News sections.
We recently caught up with Reed Alexander, Finance Reporter, who dives into the world of finance and Wall Street. During our conversation, Reed spoke about his fascinating career journey, his passion for people, how he incorporates the human experience into all of his stories about Wall Street, and shared some of his biggest accomplishments at Insider. Be sure to follow Reed on Twitter @reedalexander and check out his page on Insider.
Thanks so much for joining us today @ReedAlexander. We know there is a lot to discuss in the world of finance and the economy, but could you tell us more about your role at @thisisinsider to start #TheInsideStory
Absolutely—I've spent nearly 2.5 years here at Insider and today am a member of our team covering Wall Street. My role as a reporter gives me the remit to cover the life and times of young people kicking off their careers at big banks. It's a world of fascination.
You have had a fascinating career path leading to where you are today. Could you share more about your background? We’d love to hear about your acting roles, too!
Of course. I started out in a very different part of the world of media and entertainment, as an actor where I had the privilege of getting to spend almost a decade on the Nickelodeon sitcom @iCarly. I played the villain the character of "Nevel Papperman" specifically.
It was actually through those early years as an actor that I realized I had a deep calling for journalism. My job in front of the camera meant that I spent a lot of time talking to broadcast journalists, and I had the impression that they had the best jobs in the world.
The reason for that was because journalism = getting to spend your day talking to tremendously interesting people often at the peak or the nadir of some professional or personal incident in their lives. I wanted to live that life for myself, so I majored in journalism in college.
After studying the art of reporting for years in undergrad & grad school, I realized print reporting + the nature of investigations and source development was most appealing to me. I'm lucky that I've had the chance to carve out a career, surrounded by amazing people, doing that.
Thank you for sharing your story and how you ventured into the world of journalism! What advice would you give to someone looking to change career paths?
Great question. When I look back on my career change, it was even more than just a professional shift. I felt like I was trading in an identity as an "actor" to become someone entirely new, as a "journalist." In fact, I was really just following my inner calling.
But that doesn't happen overnight, or in six months, a year, or even two or three. It can take half a decade, like I did if you add up my four years of undergrad as a journalism major and my year as a master's student @columbiajourn. It takes a lot of time.
So my advice is, if you are changing careers because you have a burning passion to explore something else, give yourself time to really become a master and an expert. I continue to learn every day in this job, but took the time to develop those foundational skills. It's key.
I'm 27 now. Many of us think that, by our mid-20's, we've got to have all the answers, have everything figured out, and have no more bumps in the road. That's not at all true. But what is true is that finding a new path requires time and thinking, and the space to do that.
This is really important for everyone to hear. There is no one set "defined" timeline! Now, can you tell us about where your passion for covering finance and Wall Street come from?
For sure. One of my earliest experiences in journalism was getting to write for the CNN Business section of CNN.com when I was working for the international news network at their bureau in Hong Kong. I quickly discovered I loved world news focusing on business.
At the same time, I'm also fascinated by mental health and well-being, and stories that touch on the human experience. I've tried to hone my area of coverage on the finance industry by leaning into those two themes.
On the Wall Street side, I view covering big banks like covering the mouth of the river in the global economy. What banks do — M&A, financing, etc. — can have a big impact on job losses or creation and capital events that move the markets. That's a big topic to report on.
But simultaneously, I've dug into stories about younger people starting their Wall Street careers, and the mental health pressures and consequences that come with that. I have a deep passion for telling those human stories with the backdrop of high pressure and high finance.
I'll share with you two examples. This first story about JPMorgan's workplace surveillance program reveals how decisions banks make can send shockwaves through their organizations and raise big questions on workplace behavior.
And here's a 2nd example: A story involving more than 20 interviews, painting a picture of the discord engulfing Wall Street as junior bankers become more emboldened to speak out — and their managers prepare to strike back. A look inside the culture war.
Inside Wall Street’s culture war with Gen Z
It's clear that your focus on the human aspect of Wall Street is what makes your stories so profound. Can you talk about how this plays a role in how you teach at @univmiami?
Certainly; this is an area I'm especially passionate about. I want my students to understand that the best stories go beyond numbers or big splashy data points. They bring you right to the heart of the human consequences of news.
When the war in Ukraine broke out following the Russian invasion earlier this year, I brainstormed with my team at @BusinessInsider about the best ways to bring our readers to the frontlines of the action. Out of it came stories like this...
This heartbreaking story introduces you to a young woman, a software engineer working for Goldman Sachs in Poland, who had fled Ukraine, while her mom stayed behind in Kyiv. It's a look at how young people working for Wall Street were impacted.
A Goldman Sachs engineer who fled Ukraine opens up about her survivor’s guilt…
And this other powerful story features the narrative of one global consultant who fled wartorn Kyiv with his family at the back of a United Nations convoy. It's an emotive story that simultaneously shows what companies faced at the outset of the war.
This is to illustrate the point that my philosophy on storytelling is that the stories most worth the time of our readers are the ones that reveal human faces, human hearts, and human struggle. And that's what I want my journalism students at @univmiami to know.
Can you also share additional examples of your biggest accomplishments while reporting here at @BusinessInsider?
Definitely. One has been the honor of getting the invitation to twice speak at @Wharton, the respected business school, where just earlier this month I had the chance to speak to finance students and help kick off their new academic year at the Undergraduate Finance Club.
I've also had the chance to host and moderate a number of live events @BusinessInsider, where I've gotten to quiz leaders in the finance industry at banks and consulting firms large and small. I love bringing our work in front of the camera.
But the biggest accomplishment and privilege, really, has been seeing our work directly impact the lives of our readers. When we broke marathon scoops about Wall Street salary raises I saw firsthand how our ambitious, enterprising reporting changed work dynamics for young people.
It's so cool to hear about how you combine your skills in front of the camera & your passion for people to make the biggest impact in your storytelling. How do you hone in on specific angles that are of interest to our audience?
The biggest way we find angles that are salient to our audience — which is largely, on our team, composed of people in the finance industry — is by being in intense, open, detailed dialogues with our sources and members of the industry that we cover.
Our job—I tell this to my students all the time—is to identify the trends and clues within systems — such as industries or organizations—and explore those narratives to tell stories about what's going on, not to decide the news agenda for ourselves and superimpose it on readers.
So my technique is to spend a lot of time engaging with sources, talking to young people in the industry, and just asking big questions like, "What are you seeing? What phenomena matter to you?" Often, their suggestions are the seeds of amazing stories that generate lots of heat.
Based off of your technique and the conversations you've had with sources, what do you think readers should know about finance and Wall Street given the turbulent market and economic conditions?
Right now we're in a transformational time in the economy. Markets are down, stocks are taking a hit, and many companies are considering whether or not to hold out or sell for potentially a lower valuation. That all impacts shareholders.
For sure, we're seeing the consequences. Tech and finance firms alike are engaging in early rounds of layoffs, and many more may unfortunately be coming. People's portfolios are down. We're not out of this yet. We will continue to cover the speed bumps and setbacks as they arise.
So, 1) know that we, as journalists, are going to be here on the frontlines digging into what all this means for our audience. And 2) experts agree that this period may be shorter or less severe than past recessions or downturns, which is a potentially a bright spot in all this.
And what would your message be to readers who work on Wall Street as you continue to cover their lives and careers? When you recently spoke at Wharton to finance students, did you share any specific messages about their futures?
My message is simple: Wall Street can feel very institutional and almost like you're locked into a pre-set career path and there's no escape if you want to explore another passion or pursuit. But that's not true. People lose sight of the fact that they have agency.
At Wharton, I told future financiers that they would be sure to go on to have amazing careers — but they shouldn't lose sight of the fact that they have one life to live, so they'd better spend it doing what makes them ultimately the happiest.
I know Wall Street isn't naturally a bastion of that message, but the onus is on each of us to be true to ourselves about what we want. And there's an increasing narrative I've covered where young people are waking up to that message and embracing it unlike ever before.
We're (sadly) almost at the end of our Q&A, but before we wrap up, what’s your favorite part about working at @thisisinsider?
This has been so much fun! My favorite part, truthfully, is that we have built a newsroom composed of remarkable, ambitious, talented people with big hearts. We say at Insider we're a publication for "enterprising people"—but we're also a publication by enterprising people, too.
I count among the people whom I admire here, and consider mentors, many of our leaders like our Global EIC @nichcarlson, @emily_cohn, @_bmturner_, @ozoran, @Jeffrey_Cane, @kajawhitehouse, @Mabrego, @dandefrancesco, and my many remarkable colleagues on the team.
Their tenacity, drive, and vision in building this remarkable publication from the ground up and making it a must-read for key decision makers, titans of industry, and ordinary people trying to make a better world inspires me to keep pushing to do my best work every day.