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The global auto editor at the Wall Street Journal's Detroit bureau, Oakland University alum John Stoll comes full circle to teach a course in the department that completely changed his career path.
Photos by Salwan Georges |
John Stoll began his academic career at Oakland University intending to use a degree in
history as a platform for law school, but one course drastically altered his career path.
“I took a
journalism class more out of interest than real ambition to be a journalist,” Stoll said. “I really enjoyed the short form of journalism verses the long form of history.”
Stoll is a global auto editor with the Wall Street Journal’s Detroit bureau, recently returning from a position as Nordic bureau chief in Stockholm, Sweden.
Stoll graduated in 2000 with a B.A. in history and a minor in journalism and
art history. He was the first in his family to earn a degree from a four-year college. Although he had dropped out of different schools in the past, Stoll was determined to complete his degree at OU.
That determination fueled Stoll at a young age as he started his own lawn-care business at 14, eventually gaining employees by the time he began college. Stoll’s lawn-care business combined with his employment in the food business provided him sufficient income to pay much of his own tuition.
When he found his niche in journalism, he also discovered a conviction and confidence in his writing skills. He excelled in journalism courses, receiving positive feedback and encouragement from professors. One professor helped Stoll get an internship at Crain’s Communications - the first of many publications he found work at after graduation, including the Detroit News and Free Press, where he covered the automotive industry.
“It was a huge aspiration just to write for local publications,” Stoll said. “After college, my ambition changed and I felt very limited. I aspired to work at the WSJ someday.”
At 27, Stoll received a job with The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires as a staff reporter covering General Motors and the American auto industry. In 2012, he moved to Sweden as the Nordic bureau chief, managing 12 reporters who covered “funny and quirky” articles out of Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark.
“These places are quirky; all this darkness and cold,” Stoll said. “I began working with my staff to really focus on writing something that someone says ‘I have to share this with a friend.’”
Now Stoll is stationed in Detroit, covering the global automobile industry and working with reporters in China, India, Japan, Germany, France, Russia, Sweden, South America and Italy.
“Primarily, I edit and direct coverage, but will also be writing and reporting,” Stoll said. “It’s a 24-hour job, literally, which I like because it keeps things interesting. The auto industry has a lot of contours and never is there a dull day when you look at it in its entirety.”
Although he says he will miss his life in Sweden, Stoll is excited to come back to Detroit. He is teaching JRN 313 Freelance and Magazine Writing this fall at OU and looks forward to cheering on the Grizzlies at upcoming basketball games.
“Where you went to college is important because it forms and shapes you,” Stoll said. “It’s all about your experience.”
— by Kelli M. Titus
