The Summer of Ben (DiPietro)

Thomas Fox - Compliance Evangelist
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Last week Ben DiPietro announced his retirement from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Risk and Compliance Journal via Twitter. For a journalist practicing his trade in the realm of compliance in the early 21stcentury, it certainly was an appropriate manner to communicate with his readers. Ben wrote, “OK, some breaking personal news: I’ve given notice to @wsj, my last day is Aug. 14. What’s next? Stay tuned!!!!!”.

Even if you were not lucky enough to meet Ben in person, if you are in the compliance field you are certainly familiar with his work on the Risk and Compliance Journal. It is the only major US publication reporting on compliance, its enforcement and risk on a daily basis. It is required reading for all compliance professionals to keep abreast of the top stories of the day. But more than simply the daily news, the Risk and Compliance Journal is able to get some truly must-readpieces in with a ridiculous low word limit which I find nothing short of phenomenal.

Ben’s weekly column, Crisis of the Week, is a must read for not only Public Relations (PR) and communication professionals but for compliance professionals as well. Each piece lays out the problem and the company’s response from communications professionals. From the compliance perspective there are several great angles. Obviously, the communications response to the crisis is critical but Ben is able to tease out how communications can be improved in the compliance profession as well.

My Favorite Ben DiPietro Story #1

Ben is a native New Yorker. He was working in Hawaii for the Associated Press (AP) in 2000, when the New York Yankees and New York Mets finally met in the World Series. It was called a renewal of the subway series from the ‘50s between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Yankees. DiPietro went to his boss and asked for time off to go back to New York telling his boss this would probably not happen again in his lifetime. His boss denied his request.

Ben quit on the spot. He went back to New York and soaked up the atmosphere of the City for those 10 days in October 2000. He said it was one of the most unique times he had ever spent in the City. Strangers on the subway were talking about baseball in a way he had never heard during his lifetime. As a lifelong (largely suffering) Houston Astros fan, I can certainly appreciate his “series of a lifetime approach” to job security. I am not sure I would have had as much courage.

Ben has had a lengthy career in journalism, taking him literally from New York to Hawaii. He joined the WSJ in 2011 as a copy editor on the Real Time news desk. In 2013 he moved over to the Risk and Compliance Journal as editor and reporter. It is in this role that I came to know Ben and his work. He and his colleagues at the Risk and Compliance Journal have consistently put out solid reporting and excellent commentary on a wide variety of topics around risk and compliance. A sample of some of Ben’s recent stuff (in addition to the Crisis of the Week), is an opinion piece on the use of behavioral psychology in compliance, entitled Companies Try Nudging Their Way to Better Ethics, a Business piece, entitled Bumble Bee Chief Executive Taking Leave of Absence, a survey of the work companies needed to do (and still need to do) for GDPRa commentary piece on how labor strife brought down the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Air France and a Morning Risk Report on why Boards need and are now receiving more compliance training.

My Favorite Ben DiPietro Story #2

Ben is a long-time rock and roller from way back. (Or as my daughter would say – Classic Rocker.) Yet he and I share many of the same rock and roll loves not only of groups but Tours over the years. Once we engaged in an email exchange while he was riding home on the subway about his first rock and roll concert (Yes) and then debating which album tour was better. For any serious rock and roller, it does not get much better than talking about great albums and great shows.

Ben is also a Union Guy, a proud card-carrying member of Local Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) Local 1096. The IAPE has been run by and for the employees of Dow Jones & Company for over 80 years. It represents approximately 1,250 employees in 20 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Its members hold a wide range of jobs – from reporters to computer technicians and programmers, from ad sales executives to staff assistants. Local 1096’s motto “We Power Dow Jones” embodies the role of the IAPE which is to help publish and distribute the print and online versions of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s and products like Factiva and MarketWatch.

August 14th is Ben’s last day at the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal. If you have enjoyed, appreciated or learned from any of his work, I hope you will join me in sending him a tweet at @BenDiPietro1 to say thank you and wish him well in whatever he may decide to pursue going forward. Whatever it may, we will all be the better for it.

And finally to Ben – enjoy your summer of Ben. A most heartfelt thanks for your reporting, professionalism and friendship.

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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