Internet savvy

Jennifer Johnson
Then: Editor-in-chief | The Oklahoma Daily | 2001-02
Now: Assistant News Editor | Wall Street Journal Online

Jennifer Johnson began maintaining her own Web site at age 14. E-mail and HTML were still foreign novelties in 1994, but she would always be ahead of the technology curve.

“We were doing the nerdy HTML thing, making our own Web sites when no one else was interested,” Johnson said.

That same interest in technology now accompanies her as a journalist in the age of online information. Johnson is assistant news editor for the Wall Street Journal. Though her premature computer interest may have branded her a nerd to some, she said it seems to have paid off.

At The Daily, she joined a team that was just as online-minded as herself. Though it was before her time, The Daily was one of the first papers to go online in 1995 during the Oklahoma City bombing.

“It’s nice to be associated with a paper that has that reputation,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t there until later, but they already had a history of being interested in new media.”

As an online editor, her alma mater’s forward thinking is now a source of pride. Johnson said she’s seen the online industry change drastically even in her past three years at WSJ Online. Instead of just posting print stories on Web sites, online venues now dynamically combine blogs, podcasts and videos with Internet-savvy articles.

“I’ve really seen the attitudes from print-minded people change,” Johnson said. “More people are willing to break their news on the Web, and more people are looking to get their news now.”

She said a constant need for breaking news has propelled the impact of online news media to greater proportions. Subscriptions to the WSJ Online are in the top five of online newspaper subscriptions with 900,000 subscribers. Johnson said the numbers have only gone up in her time there.

“I don’t think that putting our stuff behind a [subscription] wall has had a negative impact,” Johnson said. “I’m sure that people would love to have our content for free, but that’s not possible.”

Johnson said online media is just a step away from anytime, anywhere coverage. And as reporters, writers and editors work faster and better and more accurately, Johnson will be among those leading the way.