Philana Patterson is a New York Metropolitan area journalist, content creator and writer whose professional career spans nearly 30 years.

Currently, Patterson is Deputy Editor, Standards & Ethics at the Wall Street Journal where she is tasked with maintaining the high standards of the journal’s newsroom. Since joining the Wall Street Journal, she has been a key part of the editing team that produced “The Tulsa Project’,’ a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism. She also was part of the editing team that helped produce “The Facebook Files”, the recipient of several prestigious business journalism awards including a 2022 George Polk award and a 2022 Gerald Loeb Award.

Previously, Patterson served as Managing Editor, Money & Consumer Tech at USA Today in New York City, where she led business, financial and consumer technology coverage. In this role, Patterson’s portfolio included text, video, podcasts, newsletters and oversight of social media channels and strategy. She launched a section focused on entrepreneurship, a newsletter focused on retirement planning and a daily newsletter on money and business. She also expanded coverage of real estate and homeownership, and developed the video series “Uncommon Drive” and “It’s Personal” to engage and inspire entrepreneurs and workers. Also while at USA Today, Patterson oversaw “Women of the Century”, a project that commemorated women being granted the right to vote in the United States which spanned media corporation Gannett’s 260 newsrooms and highlighted the contributions of women of color in the shaping of America.

Previously, Patterson was assistant business editor at The Associated Press where she helped oversee global business and financial coverage and led a groundbreaking project that used natural language generation software to automate corporate earnings stories. She’s worked as a reporter, editor or producer at Black Enterprise, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones Newswires, and The Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia. She began her career in journalism at the Greenville News in Greenville, South Carolina. Her work as a reporter and writer has also been published in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, Essence magazine, The Real Deal and other publications.

Patterson is co-author of the 2010 book Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness and wrote the proposal that led to its sale. She served as project manager on the 2009 book International Perspectives on Social Entrepreneurship. Other projects have included writing case studies for use in MBA classes, and editing academic journal submissions and dissertations for doctoral candidates at institutions including Columbia University, New York University and Yale University.

Patterson has consulted on a wide variety of media and literary endeavors. Recent projects have included editing a book authored by a managing director of one of the world’s largest investment firms, and consulting on a project by a well-known, veteran music artist. Additional projects in the entertainment realm have included writing services for Emmy-award winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph and for the family of the late Grammy-award winning artist, composer and producer Lou Rawls. She has also consulted on projects involving actresses Niecy Nash, Mira Sorvino and others.

Patterson is a native of Chicago. She earned a degree in journalism from Northwestern University. At this stage in her life and career, she is blessed to be able to selectively accept projects outside of traditional work that appeal to her personally, most of which are focused on improving the lives of people of color and women.