PR and the business reporter: After the pitch
Way back in October 2013, I elaborated upon several of the dos and don’ts of PR and reporter relationships. This past week I solicited some new commentary, and one theme that emerged was that Public relations folks often nail the initial pitch, but then fumble the follow-up. The Too Friendly Offering to take a reporter […]
Reuters story size down 16 percent since 500-word decree
Dayan Candappa, editor of the Americas for Reuters, sent out the following announcement on Monday: Congratulations! You’ve shrunk the file by 16 percent without spiking stories. In June, we agreed to keep most stories shorter than 500 words unless we had something original to say. The numbers indicate our pilot project has been a success, […]
Explaining Federal Reserve policy via GIFs
Capital New York interviewed new BuzzFeed deputy business editor Tom Gara about how the website delivers business and financial news. Here is an excerpt: CAPITAL: In the same interview, Lauria talked about publishing a mixture of “insider-y posts” and listicle explainers. Do you think the younger readers who account for a lot of Buzzfeed’s readership […]
The SEC is hurting business journalism
Sheila S. Coronel, the dean of academic affairs at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, writes for Columbia Journalism Review about how a recent Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into a leak could have a harmful affect on future business journalism. Coronel writes, “It must have been unnerving for the SEC staff to be […]
Reuters to launch TV product for phones and tablets
Reuters editor in chief Steve Adler sent out the following announcement on Monday: Reuters is embarking on an exciting and ambitious new consumer television product for connected devices (such as phones and tablets) which will launch later this year. The new Reuters TV app, to be sold by subscription, will deliver the day’s most important […]
Finke duped by false tip
Entertainment business reporter Nikki Finke was duped into believing a false tip about a new Ghostbusters movie, reports Ian Mohr of the New York Post. Mohr writes, “Dangling the carrot further, one ‘tipster’ claimed Deadline was running the Landis story the next day. Another begged Finke not to run the story as it was promised […]
Tech reporters must divide — or be eliminated
Dave Lee, a BBC tech reporter, writes on Medium about the future of his beat, and it’s not pretty. Lee writes, “What must die out, and quickly, is the reporting of things merely because they happened via some kind of technology, with the tech as its focus. “After all, when the president makes a phone […]
Bryant on writing the “Corner Office”
Adam Bryant, who writes the “Corner Office” for the New York Times, was interviewed by David J. Parnell of Forbes.com about how he writes his regular column. Here is an excerpt: Parnell: Why did you start Corner Office? Bryant: I was a business reporter here at the [New York] Times for many years throughout the […]
Maybe computers writing AP’s earnings stories isn’t a bad thing
Joe Pinsker of The Atlantic writes that the announcement by the Associated Press that it will have computers write many earnings stories could actually be a good thing. Pinsker writes, “While, yes, it’s true that algorithms can cram stories about vastly different subjects into the same uncanny monotone — they can cover Little League like […]
Frankie Flack: Why can’t I get more biz reporters to go OTR?
I used to gossip more, back in the good old days. A reporter would ring me up, I’d give her the line of the day. Then I’d ask: “Want to go off the record?” She’d say, “Sure!” And we’d be off to the races: who was up, who was down, what was rumored to be […]
