The New Orleans “daily” punts business coverage

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

On Sunday, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune and its website, NOLA.com, announced the new management team that will oversee the paper and website’s editorial content.

There is just one problem — no one was named to oversee business news coverage. It’s a glaring omission and it shows how far business news has fallen in a newsroom that once produced top notch business and economics coverage, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

I’m sure that the paper, and its website, will continue to cover some business stories. But without an editor devoted to business news, I believe coverage will suffer. The Times-Picayune is basically allowing the two weekly papers and the Baton Rouge daily to come into New Orleans and cover whatever business news it wants.

Unfortunately, this is happening across the country. Many dailies have given up on being the newspaper of record for business news in their cities. Their business news desks are emaciated and can not possibly cover all of the business and economics stories that need to be covered.

That is why the weekly business newspaper will grow in prominence in cities such as New Orleans and the broadsheets will now be an afterthought when it comes to business news.

Charlie Crumpley and Kim Quillen, the past two business editors for The Times-Picayune, must be disappointed that all of the work they did to build up business news in the Crescent City is now being thrown away.