How to succeed in a metric-driven news operation
Journalists shouldn’t be afraid of data today, but they should be aware of the metrics and analytics that can be measured online and use the information to dissect what stories do well and what stories don’t do well, said Josh Awtry, an editor of two local newspapers in the Carolinas. “As an industry we are […]
Financial journalism “captured” by elite sources
A new study suggests financial journalism has been “captured” by a small coterie of elite sources. The study was conducted by Sophie Knowles from the University of the Arts London, Gail Phillips from Murdoch University and Johan Lidberg from Monash University. A summary of the study on The Conversation notes: To answer these questions, we conducted a comparative and longitudinal study of mainstream financial journalism […]
The business journalism behind Nikkei
Jonathan Soble of the New York Times writes about the business journalism behind Nikkei, the Japanese company that announced earlier this month it was acquiring the Financial Times. Soble writes, “Mr. Otsuka, the former Nikkei reporter, said companies saw the paper as a friendly place to leak information on acquisitions, new products and financial results. […]
Covering more than the basic economic stories
Harel Amsalem profiles San Diego Union-Tribune business reporter Jonathan Horn and his ability to find stories beneath the surface. Amsalem writes, “Horn said there are certain stories that he enjoys reporting. “‘A lot of the ones that stuck with me are the ones where you tell the story of people,’ Horn said. “The recent economic […]
The issues with covering Trump and his net worth
Timothy O’Brien of Bloomberg View, who wrote a book about Donald Trump, writes about the difficulties in covering the net worth of the Republican presidential candidate’s net worth, which Trump pegged at $10 billion. O’Brien writes, “But Donald had no idea how hard it was to get this right! On a single day in August […]
Biz reporter jobs and the threat from machines
Earnings season is here, along with two “threats” facing business journalists’ jobs. For those not in the biz, earnings season is the roughly three-week period when most of the S&P 500 companies reveal their quarterly results. For wire services and major business news outlets, it’s a massive shoveling exercise. Just to add sweat the exercise […]
The pros/cons of pitching biz reporters through social media
At public relations firms specializing in financial services, it’s a good rule of thumb — and often suggested — that PR practitioners also start following relevant business reporters for their clients on Twitter. New PR pros thus glean insight into the daily activity of reporters, including their drinking habits, hobbies, when they ace a Buzzfeed […]
Development authority refuses to release documents to business newspaper
A Mississippi development authority is refusing to release proposals it received for a convention center hotel by a June 30 deadline after the Mississippi Business Journal submitted a freedom of information request. Ted Carter of the newspaper writes, “The Mississippi Business Journal has submitted an open records request for the newest round of proposals. The […]
How Joe Weisenthal loosens up Bloomberg
Ricardo Bilton of Digiday interviewed Joe Weisenthal of Bloomberg, whose show “What’d You Miss?” debuted recently. Here is an excerpt: Business coverage, when done right, can be as compelling as sports. The overlap between coverage of market movements and professional sports seems minimal. On the other hand, finance watchers obsess over the moves of people […]
The clock that tech reporters use to cover companies
Aaron Zamost, currently head of communications at Square, writes about tech reporters use a regular clock schedule to cover the industry’s companies. Zamost writes: 1:00 SVT: Shiny new toy. It’s around 1:00 that the first real article is written about your company. With the right connections, anyone can make it to 1:00. You’ve launched your […]
