An Interview: Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune
This week I sat down with Emma Hinchliffe, Most Powerful Women Editor at Fortune.
Did you always want to be a journalist?
I was always interested in journalism. I grew up in New Jersey and my dad worked in radio at WNYC and Bloomberg, so journalism was always on my radar. I had people telling me not to go for it—it’s hard, you won’t make any money—so I always waited to see if I became interested in anything else, but I never did.
What was the turning point or experience that made you take the path of journalism?
The turning point for me was getting involved in my college newspaper. I was at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. doing on-campus reporting while also being exposed to the city and reporting about the world around us. I learned a lot really fast. I became editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper The Hoya and then decided to go for it.
You've been a journalist for over a decade, working at Mashable, USA Today, the Houston Chronicle, and for the past seven years, Fortune. With hundreds of articles published, what are some of the stories you're most proud of and why?
Since I’ve been at Fortune for seven years, the work I’m most proud of is mostly here. My work is a mix of the MPW Daily newsletter, on-stage interviews at our conferences, and magazine-length features.
I’m proud of the engaged audience and community the MPW Daily (formerly the Broadsheet) newsletter has—which is also a testament to many writers and editors who came before me and work with me today.
On the story side, I did a profile in 2022 on Melanie Perkins, cofounder and CEO of Canva. I went to Sydney, Australia for one week as they were getting ready to launch their enterprise products and begin truly competing with the big tech giants. I am really proud of how it turned out, and to be able to show the world more about Melanie as a person (she is very private!) as she pursues big goals to shape the future of business and society.
Last fall, I did a feature story on the WNBA, which has been given awards recognition by both the Deadline Club and the Silurians Press Club. I was proud to chronicle a complex, pivotal moment in the growth of the league and to bring a story about women’s basketball to the pages of Fortune.
Some of my onstage interviews that stand out are everyone from celebrities and newsmakers like Cameron Diaz or Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex to political figures like Sen. Laphonza Butler a week after she was appointed in California, or E. Jean Carroll, to major CEOs and execs at companies ranging from Best Buy and Match Group to TikTok and Glossier.
As a journalist at Fortune, you cover women-led businesses, profiling women CEOs and founders. You also co-chair Fortune's Most Powerful Women (MPW) Summit as well as are the author of Fortune's daily newsletter, Most Powerful Women Daily. Phew, let’s break it down. Can you give us some examples of the stories and profiles you're writing?
With the newsletter, that comes out five days a week at 9:30am ET and is a place to tell the most important stories affecting women in business each day. It has such a devoted and engaged audience that really turns to us as part of their daily routines.
Sometimes, it’s a profile on a founder building something cool, sometimes it’s commentary on something going on in the news—a CEO firing or hiring or a gender-lens view on a major news story outside of the business world. It’s really a mix of what we think is most relevant to the audience that day.
How do you decide what gets featured on Fortune.com versus what gets included in the Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter?
Every edition of the newsletter is on Fortune.com, but where they are distinct is the audience. The audience in the inbox might be interested in stories outside pure business coverage—like a take on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter or a recap of the women who won at the Oscars. The audience on the site is more interested in the business coverage that Fortune is known for.
As co-chair, are you part of the committee that determines the Most Powerful Women honorees? If so, what are some prerequisites?
In addition to the Most Powerful Women Summit, I also oversee the Most Powerful Women in Business List, a ranking of the 100 most powerful women driving global business. We just published the 28th annual edition. It relies on a methodology: the size of a business or exec’s P&L, the health of that business, plus factors including an exec’s influence, career trajectory, and innovation.
What's driving your coverage these days?
Personally, I’m always interested in really great narrative storytelling—that can be longform in the magazine or a great narrative in the newsletter or another format.
How, in your opinion, has the role of journalism changed over the past few years?
The industry has seen enormous change. People can get basic information summarized at the top of Google. So, information they can’t get anywhere else or engrossing, narrative storytelling that teaches you something or just has entertainment value are so critical. It’s really about your unique value as a journalist.
What are some trends in journalism you're seeing and which are here to stay?
AI is changing journalism forever—that’s definitely here to stay. We need to make sure journalism is at the forefront and AI is supporting it—not the other way around.
Your personal brand as a journalist is also important—you want people to think of you when they read or see your work, not just an anonymous byline.
As a journalist, do you consider yourself a content creator?
It’s not a label I use for myself, but I see how some parts of my work could be considered that. It’s really to journalists’ advantage to learn from content creators and why they’re so successful at capturing attention.
What do the best PR pitches you get include?
The best thing you can do is know what I do and what is a fit for me, specifically, at Fortune. MPW Daily, the newsletter, has been around for a decade and has a really engaged audience who reads it every day—which means the inbounds we get are a lot more relevant than more generic PR outreach. Most PR pitches would find a home in the newsletter and on the site, which means understanding the logistics of that too—the newsletter goes out every morning ET, and we can only run one main story per day, which means needing to pivot for breaking news.
Will you ever cover news that’s under embargo or news that’s already broken?
For huge, cycle-defining news, sure—but it’s relatively rare for smaller stuff that we’d do it without the exclusive.
Are you open to intro meetings with female execs as future sources?
Yes! But I try to only do get-to-know-you meetings in person.
Great interview - I loved that WNBA piece!
👍👏