JOURNALISM
Slate
Overview
This deep-dive into Comcast's customer service overhaul after public and FCC criticism was featured in Slate as part of Future Tense, a collaboration with Arizona State University and New America.
Comcast was in the throes of change. My piece was a critical analysis of its efforts to position itself as a tech company akin to Apple, redesigning its entire customer service experience from end to end. But was tackling the tech enough when Comcast is still using predatory sales practices with customers?
With insights gathered from all sides of the debate, from the C-suite to frontline customer service reps and customers, this piece explores corporate America’s battle to reconcile the bottom line with real humans and their needs—and its mixed results.
The Approach
The Results
I started by building contextual knowledge using a variety of primary sources: earnings calls, technical documentation for IVR systems, academic journals in management and organization science, and more.
Armed with this understanding, I interviewed senior executives at Comcast as well as a confidential source in the customer service department, verifying the confidential source and obtaining leaked documents and information. Working closely with senior editors at Slate, I navigated challenging conversations with sources and synthesized multiple perspectives into my article.
• Created complex, balanced longform journalism for a national audience
• Understood key challenges in the customer relations space from a variety of opposing perspectives
• Generated new knowledge on the internal workings of one of America's largest and most influential companies