Emily Sweeney is why news videos go viral

I seem to be able to get people to open up, to feel comfortable talking about sometimes horrific, life-changing things. The other part is that I have an interest in history, and that’s what got me writing about organized crime. Boston, like many other major cities, has a long history with organized crime.”

Emily Sweeney, social video journalist, The Boston Globe

Emily Sweeney perfectly personifies what resonates with news audiences today: command of subject matter, a level of familiarity, approachability, honesty and authenticity. Plus, there’s that distinctive Boston accent and her ubiquitous track jackets.

Even if you’re not a long-time subscriber to The Boston Globe, you may already know of Sweeney’s work by way of her viral videos. E&P spoke with the reporter in June about her more than 20-year career with the Globe, about video as a storytelling medium, and about online celebrity.

Sweeney grew up in Dorchester — Boston’s largest neighborhood, with nearly a fifth of the city’s population. She studied journalism at Northeastern University, where she was a four-year member of the championship women’s ice hockey team.

While a student, she landed a co-op with The Boston Globe.

Widely recognized for her true-crime beat, her distinctive Boston accent and her ubiquitous track jackets, Emily Sweeney is a hugely popular social video journalist for The Boston Globe. With the help of Videographer Maria Pemberton, Sweeney produces videos with person-on-the-street accounts, highlights of the day’s need-to-know news and quirky “only in Boston” stories. Many of their videos are shot out and about, but some are recorded in more personal settings, like Sweeney’s living room. “I do a lot of videos from my couch,” she told E&P. (Photo courtesy of Emily Sweeney)

“Seeing journalism being practiced in a large newsroom like the Globe was when I realized I’d made the right decision to be a journalism major,” Sweeney said.

After graduation, she worked for a series of local papers around Boston — the Bedford Minuteman, the Brookline TAB and the Waltham Daily News Tribune. Sweeney said it was “a dream come true” when she was hired by The Boston Globe as a staff reporter. She found she excelled in crime reporting, because it required a reporter who knew the nuances of Boston’s neighborhoods and someone comfortable speaking with people — someone who naturally makes people feel heard, understood and critical to the story.

“I seem to be able to get people to open up, to feel comfortable talking about sometimes horrific, life-changing things. The other part is that I have an interest in history, and that’s what got me writing about organized crime. Boston, like many other major cities, has a long history with organized crime,” Sweeney said. She has authored three books — two in the true-crime space, “Boston Organized Crime” and “Gangland Boston.”

She recounted how she had an early affinity for TV and radio. A kid, armed with a boombox, Sweeney played at being a radio DJ. As a professional, she was an early adopter of video.

“I think one of the most important things is that you should be a user of the platforms you’re producing content for,” Sweeney suggested. “I use TikTok and Instagram, so they’re second nature to me. … Knowing the platform allows me to think about what interests me as a user. You can see other popular videos and see what people are liking. You get a sense of what they find interesting.”

She’s always been a reporter who reads comments and engages in conversation with readers.

“I love hearing from the audience, whether good or bad. I want to know if they have questions. If someone asks a question, I try to jump in and answer it for them. Maybe it was something not addressed in the story or the post. In retrospect, I might consider why it should have been included in the article,” Sweeney explained.

The Boston Globe’s social video journalist, Emily Sweeney, is seen here in a video posted to Instagram, reporting on the number of pothole-repair requests the City of Boston had received, complete with a map of pothole locations, broken down by neighborhood.

She has nearly 30,000 followers on Instagram and over 5,300 on TikTok.

“I have to give major props to videographer Maria Pemberton,” Sweeney said. They work together as a vertical-video dynamic duo.

In the wake of her viral videos, she has been courted by talk show hosts, and this spring, Sweeney was profiled by The New York Times’ Kasia Pilat.

She is mindful that social-media popularity can be fleeting. She’d figured the buzz from her first viral video would die down in a matter of days. Instead, the audience wanted more, and the Globe’s newsroom leadership responded. In the early summer, Sweeney got a new title — social video journalist — working in partnership with Pemberton to produce vertical video. Sweeney will also continue penning her popular unsolved-murder series, “The Cold Case Files.”

“I’m excited to talk about the great work my colleagues do at the Globe, and it’s been so cool seeing all this positive feedback and questions I’m getting from people all over the world — not just Boston, but people from Australia, Guam, all over the country. It renewed my faith and excitement about working in media,” Sweeney concluded.

Gretchen A. Peck is E&P’s editor-in-chief. She welcomes your emails at editor@editorandpublisher.com.