In my first week as WBJ editor in 2015, the late great Brian Thompson, then president and CEO of the former Commerce Bank in Worcester, mailed me a lovely handwritten note welcoming me to the Central Massachusetts business community.
Thompson’s welcome was the first lasting memory of the greatest adventure of my professional life.
Now, that adventure is coming to a close. I’m departing WBJ in mid-September and welcoming the next in a long line of WBJ editors to continue the legacy of bringing strong business journalism to the region.
My 11-year tenure at WBJ has been a wild one, marked by so many fantastic stories from talented reporters. Yet, when I reflect on my time here, I remember one thing above all else: the people.
The Central Massachusetts economy has many strengths, but its true strength lies in its people. More than any other place I’ve worked, the people here shape the region’s success through their talents and hard work. They collaborate to meet collective goals. They learn and adapt. Even people who seemingly would be rivals will join forces for the greater good. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows – and never will be – but the professionals here truly care about making Central Massachusetts better every single day. It’s been amazing to watch.
Thompson was my first connection to the business community. We met a few days after I received his letter, and I was shocked by his forthrightness, particularly about WBJ. We discussed its strengths, weaknesses, and the role it played in the business community. Above all else, I realized Thompson valued honesty and transparency.
From that conversation and thousands more with others over the next decade, I came to understand that WBJ’s primary product is integrity. That principle shaped every decision I made as editor. Stories needed to be free of bias. Award winners had to be selected in the most upright manner. Each article had to give voice to all reasonable sides.
While these may seem like basic journalism tenets, a significant part of my job was enforcing them, in small ways like deciding which press releases became stories and in big ways like determining which investigations merited dozens of hours of a reporter’s time.
Several times over the years I was asked why WBJ would pursue stories that significant portions of our audience wouldn’t like, such as the Polar Park financing coverage, the data-based analysis of Worcester’s renaissance, the five-year examination of gender inequity in local business leadership, or the troubles at the Cannabis Control Commission. We wrote these stories because the media’s role isn’t to tell people what they want to hear. Our role is simply to tell the truth.
All this great journalism wouldn’t have happened without great journalists, and I’ve been blessed to work with so many at WBJ: the pugnacious Grant Welker, the brilliant Katherine Hamilton, the innovative Sam Bonacci, the thoughtful and well-connected Emily Micucci, the adventurous Laura Finaldi, the eager Sloane Perron, the writing master Monica Benevides, the instinctive Zachary Comeau, the prodigious Isabel Hart, and the most interesting man in the world, Timothy Doyle.
That tradition continues. One of the highlights of my career came this May when Managing Editor Eric Casey was named Journalist of the Year by our international business journal association. I’ve been equally fortunate to work with the bold Stephanie Meagher and the steadfast Heide Martin, the greatest research team an editor could want; and two phenomenal designers: the diligent Kira Beaudoin and the artistic Mitchell Hayes.
None of this would have been possible without longtime publisher and CEO Peter Stanton, who hired me and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, and General Manager Kris Prosser, who truly is the heart and soul of WBJ.
Many of these people have moved on to their own next chapters, and now it is time for me to do the same.
The next WBJ editor is someone many of you may already know: Mark Conti, former Telegram & Gazette business editor and managing editor. Conti and new publisher and CEO Tom Curtin will write WBJ’s next chapter. Please be as generous with them as you have been with me.
Even though I’m departing as WBJ editor, I’m not leaving the region, so feel free to drop me a note. Central Massachusetts will always be a part of my professional identity, shaped by its many wonderful and formidable people.
These connections mean more to me than anything.
Even that first connection still has an impact. From the day I received it, Brian Thompson’s welcome letter has sat in my desk. I read it occasionally, for its graciousness and inspiration.
That, I will take with me.
– Brad Kane, editor
