Behind the Editor's Door: Quick Hits with Mark Morrison, Former Managing Editor of BusinessWeek

By Kanupriya Vashisht
January 17, 2007 05:36 PM

First job ever
Rice farm in Texas

How did you become a journalist?
I was curious about journalism and took it as an elective in high school in Houston. But the real reason was I didn't want to take the alternative course -- debate. I became active on the high school newspaper, became editor of it. I knew then that I wanted to be a journalist.

Your dream assignment on the business beat
Bureau chief of BusinessWeek in Chicago. We had a great staff, and an infinite number of big stories to cover.

Your proudest moment as a business journalist
Working with a talented staff at BusinessWeek to produce original and smart stories as competition got increasingly fierce.

Your most embarrassing moment
That we weren't more skeptical about the Internet boom in the '90s. We started believing in the new paradigm that companies can exist without making money immediately. Also the time I arrived for an interview and the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company told me my zipper was down.

Your greatest fear when covering a story
Getting the facts wrong.

Your inspiration
My first boss at BusinessWeek, Houston Bureau Chief John Love.

If not business, what beat would you have liked to cover?
Politics or international news

If you hadn't been a journalist what would you have been?
Entrepreneur

What media organization do you think does the best job of covering the business neat?
BusinessWeek is my favorite of course. The Wall Street Journal is also must reading.

A myth about business journalism you'd like to dispel with business journalism students
That it is boring.

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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism