About a Journalist, By a Journalist: Joe Sharkey

Joe Sharkey is an American author and former journalist for The New York Times. Before becoming a successful writer and columnist, Sharkey served in the United States Navy. Sharkey was in Vietnam in 1968 where he was assigned to a unit in Saigon that traveled the country reporting on Navy and Marine Corps action, often for Pacific Stars & Stripes, the military newspaper. Upon exiting the Navy, Sharkey had useful information and clips and was able to approach the Philadelphia Inquirer, a major publication in his hometown, who hired him in 1970 as a reporter and columnist.

Since his first journalist job at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Sharkey’s work appears in major nation and international publications. For 19 years he was a columnist for The New York Times, 16 of those doing the weekly “On the Road” column on business travel and before that the weekly “Jersey” column. Currently, Sharkey is an online columnist for the business-travel site Lola.com, as well as a print and online columnist for Business Jet Traveler magazine. Similarly, he has written five books, four non-fictions focused on criminality and a novel, one of which titled “Above Suspicion” has been adapted into a major motion picture starring Emilia Clarke from the series “Game of Thrones.” Sharkey is also an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Arizona living in Tucson, Arizona.

An interesting piece of information about Joe Sharkey is he was one of the seven people aboard an Embraer Legacy business jet that collided mid-air with a Boeing 737 over Brazil, on September 29. 2006. Luckily they managed to land safely, despite sustaining damage to the wing and tail of the aircraft. In a New York Times front-page article, “Colliding With Death at 37,000 Feet, and Living,” Sharkey reported:

“It had been a nice ride. Minutes before we were hit, I had wandered up to the cockpit to chat with the pilots, who said the plane was flying beautifully. I saw the readout that showed out altitude: 37,000 feet. I returned to my seat. Minutes later came the strike (it sheared off part of the plane’s tail, too, we later learned)”. (https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/business/03road.html)

Joe Sharkey has produced countless columns and pieces of work in his career starting when he was in the Navy and continuing until the present day. Some examples of Sharkey’s work include his “On the Road” columns published in The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/column/on-the-road?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=ExtendedByline&region=Header&pgtype=article), his website and blog (https://joesharkey.com/) and his assortment of criminality books. Sharkey’s book, “Above Suspicion” has been recently turned into a film moving it from print to multi-media. His books have also all been transferred into e-books to read off of a Kindle or iPad pushing them into multi-media and the digital world as well.

Finally, Sharkey has most recently been working on the movie adaptation of “Above Suspicion” as well as a new non-fiction book.

Sharkey had had a great amount of impact on the journalism world and now moving into the digital journalism world in the age of digital media. When it comes to digital media tools, Sharkey most notably uses online publications and business travel sites like Lola.com to reach a wider range of the public. While he isn’t a big time user of social media, Sharkey does see the value in today’s digital age and the tools that go with that. “While I value on-the-ground, face to face reporting, the research capabilities on the Internet are astonishing to someone, like me, who began in journalism before the internet was even thought of,” explains Sharkey. While he doesn’t currently draw a distinction on whether he is a ‘digital journalist,’ Sharkey does recognize that “digital journalism is not the future, it is the present.” I would definitely consider Joe Sharkey a digital journalist however, he has produced thousands of columns that are readily accessible online, he writes for an online publication and he has his own self-named blog. While he may not be the influencer or social media star of the 21st century, Sharkey proves to be someone who as lived through the transition from the print age to the digital age.

Through the use of online publications, eBooks and articles all accessible online, Sharkey reaches a greatly wider range of people than he may have before he moved into digital journalism and he recognizes that. Similarly, Sharkey acknowledges that digital journalism and the Internet is still something we are all learning how to use properly in order to give the public access to current, timely news. I find a journalist like Joe Sharkey to be extremely knowledgeable and professional when it comes to the work he produces. Sharkey has great scope, as much of his work is easily accessible through his blog where he frequently posts about business travel and other topics. I find him to be specifically creative because he uses so many different platforms to share his work and he really doesn’t need to use social media to do this. While he is a fairly well known journalist, it is still easy for someone who knows nothing about him to find his work and plenty of information about him through the Internet. For these reasons I believe Joe Sharkey is a great example of a journalist who began in the print world and has flawlessly progressed and flowed into the digital world, making him one of the godfathers of digital journalism in my opinion.