In-Class Press Conference: Betty Wong

Professor –

Economic crises, massive layoffs caused by significant budget cuts, and important changes in the world of journalistic reporting would intimidate any normal journalist. But for Betty Wong, the third most senior international editor at the Reuters news agency, handling them such challenges has become second nature.

As Wong points out, both she is now responsible for much more than just simply reporting news events.

“The world has gotten far more flat,” Wong observes. “It was hard to get news [before]; now it’s easy.” People are much more connected and the exchange of new ideas is much easier, she says. Wong says she is excited to be a part of the new push towards technology and creative outlets in the world of news.

With outlets in two hundred countries and information being exchanged in at least seventeen languages, it is clearly an influential international outlet. Yet Reuters is still not impervious to the recent changes in the economic and journalism realms of business – Wong notes, as do many others, that there are a great deal of layoffs and cuts that cause sacrifices throughout the media world.

Because of her position as a senior editor, Wong has been in charge of the business aspects of reporting on many occasions. On a recent trip on Air Force One to follow and report on the actions and initiatives of the President of the United States, Wong totaled the money spent just to send three reporters on the plane.

“One of our trips to Asia cost us $250,000,” she recalls. “I know how expensive it is to produce news.”

“The atmosphere is tough,” Wong says. “It is a very tough field…you really have to want [to write and succeed], and want it badly.”

As the third most senior editor at Reuters, Wong possesses a great deal of responsibility, and in this time of journalistic change and upheaval, her skills have become even more essential. Despite the recent cuts of expenditures in the world of journalism, new advances are occurring. The world of news consumption is quickly being altered, she says, leading consumers to expect a very different multimedia experience than they have demanded in the past.

“Things have changed. It’s about meeting customer needs,” Wong says. The new technology accessible to the public has brought expectations much greater than in any previous years. As a result, news providers like Reuters are expected to provide fully packaged visual, auditory, and text components with their news. There is “more of a demand for video and audio,” Wong says. “This generation expects the full multimedia experience.”

“The atmosphere is tough,” she says. “It is a very tough field…you really have to want [to write and succeed], and want it badly.”But despite all of the pressures, expectations, and changes in the journalism industry, Wong believes that being a journalist is still the “greatest career in the world.”

High School Friend --

Betty Wong had no idea she would become a journalist, let alone the third most executive editor for Reuters, a world-renowned news agency. The path to her current title was anything but straight, but she “doesn’t regret it at all” because it led her to “the greatest career in the world,” she says.

In an in-class press conference on Friday, Wong described her employment journey in the intense world of journalism and helped to introduce the concepts of the media environment to a course of Newswriting at Fairfield University.

As a daughter of a strict Chinese family, Wong was directed to follow her parents’ expectations. Early in her life, they decided she would become an engineer, leaving no room for the consideration of her aspirations. She enrolled in Stony Brook University in New York and focused on studying math and science – but she was never truly happy, she says. As she considered changing her focus in college, Wong remembered her days in high school working on the school newspaper, and soon realized that she was much more interested in writing and media than she was in engineering.

Her next hurdle, however, was even more daunting than her decision to change her major, essentially altering the course her life would take; she needed to ask her parents for permission. Wong’s first generation Chinese-American parents were certain about her path in life and were not very open to her suggestions. After great discussion, they finally agreed to allow Wong to change her major and become a journalist.

Wong later transferred to New York University to focus her studies on media and journalism. Immediately after graduation, she secured a job at The Wall Street Journal at the age of 24, becoming the youngest reporter for the paper in its history. Wong quickly realized, however, that she didn’t want to become stuck at a particular institution for too long.

“I could spend a lifetime at The Wall Street Journal, or I could see what else was out there,” Wong says. After deciding to leave the paper and experimenting with a number of other news outlets, she settled on Reuters.

A company that “does far more than media,” Wong notes, Reuters is a fast-paced company where she could grow as a reporter and as an editor. With outlets in more than two hundred countries exchanging information in seventeen languages, it is a strong example of the changing world of news consumption. Though she started as a reporter, Wong quickly worked her way to editing, and soon emerged as one of the most senior ranked editors for Reuters in the world.

Wong is proud of her decision to change her major in college and redirect her goals in life. The world of media has given her “the chance to do a lot of cool things….[that is] why I find journalism fascinating,” she admits. Because of her career, she has been able to travel to more than fifty cities around the world – everywhere from Shanghai, China, to Sydney, Australia - and meet important figures from a wealth of countries.

With her great life experiences, Wong is generous with her advice. She suggests finding a mentor, someone who can have a great influence on your life and career success.

“[There are] mentors who have shaped me, [and] helped me in realizing what I want,” she explains. Their key guidance was essential in Wong’s career decisions that have led her to her success today at Reuters. But more than just a handful of mentors, good advice and decisions have helped Wong through the course of her life.

“Be open to anything,” she says. “Have a mental list of what you want to do, [and] don’t hold back on anything you want to do. Go where you think your career can take you…you don’t have to stay anywhere longer than you want to.”

But Wong’s greatest achievements have been coordinated by one piece of advice, which has led her to take chances, risk everything, and has driven her to the great success she has today. To all students and adults alike, she suggests, “When the opportunity strikes, say yes.”