WSJ Video new hires announced

The Wall Street Journal’s new Head of Video Maral Usefi recently announced a slew of new hires as she works to build out the Journal’s video team to support her new strategy. The staff joins the Journal with a range of skills and across a range of professional backgrounds.

Read more about the new hires below and we’ll share more from Maral and her vision for video at WSJ in the new year:

Roberto Ferdman, Sr. Video Correspondent — Roberto has a deep background in business and economics coverage, along with strong investigative experience. He worked most recently with The Marshall Project, and before that, Vice, Quartz, The Atlantic and The Washington Post. He is an Emmy, Polk, Murrow award winner who joined the Journal this week.

Patrick Mannion, Supervising Video Editor — Patrick worked most recently on Bloomberg Originals, as well as commercial work and across short documentaries and features, with stints at TED, The Marshall Project, Columbia Journal Review and Vice. He is an Emmy and Peabody award winner. (Started Dec. 8)

Tomas Navia, Sr. Video Journalist — Tomas was most recently on the ABC investigations team where, for a year, he was embedded in the Uvalde, Texas, community working on “Print it Black.” The resulting documentary, “It Happened Here — A Year in Uvalde,” won an Emmy Award. He was also the lead producer at Vice on the Emmy-winning hour, “Aging, Inc” among many other ambitious reporting projects. He joined the Journal earlier this fall.

Tess Owen, Sr. Video Correspondent — Tess worked most recently at Wired, and has written for New York Magazine, The New Yorker and The Guardian. She is known for her incredible reporting skill, from investigations to features. She's covered topics ranging from extremism, politics and disinformation, to crime and policing. She is a Front Page award winner who also joined WSJ this week.

Ilaria Polsonetti, Supervising Video Editor — Ilaria has been crafting narrative across formats for more than a decade. She has an eye for building scenes and characters, with an incredible attention to detail and pace. She has worked on an extensive slate of award-winning work at Vice and has edited most recently for Bloomberg and Football Americano. She is an Emmy and Peabody winner who joins WSJ on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Jaclyn Skurie, Sr. Video Journalist — Jaclyn recently joined WSJ from ABC, where she worked on breaking news and documentary news series. She has extensive experience in open-source reporting and tracking down sources and compelling characters. She is a former Fulbright Scholar and has won multiple Emmy and Loeb awards.

Daniel Vergara, Sr. Director of Photography — Daniel previously served as a photography director at Vice Media. In his role with WSJ, he supports the creation of a cohesive look book across all of WSJ’s content, building out shoot guides, and continually evaluating and upgrading our equipment, shooting style and skillsets. He is an Emmy, Polk, Press Club, and OPC award winner. (Started Nov. 11)