CNBC editor Deogun: Let’s stick to the facts
CNBC editor in chief Nik Deogun encouraged those in the media to stick to the facts and acknowledge when they don’t know something because readers “are not as ignorant, as stupid as we think they are” at The Aspen Ideas Festival. Tré Goins-Phillips of The Blaze writes, “In his response, Deogun warned against holding different people to different […]
How Trump is helping real estate coverage
Michelle Jarboe is the real estate reporter on the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business news desk and the outgoing president of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, which just held its annual conference in Denver. Jarboe has been with the Plain Dealer since 2007 covering commercial real estate, development and the housing market for Ohio’s […]
Testy Biz Copy Editor: Reporting on stocks? Learn the basics
(LA Times) No, it wasn’t like handing Amazon $13.7 billion. Most of the outstanding stock is held by investors, and they get the benefit of a higher share price. It is true that Amazon’s market value went up $13.7 billion, but that’s obvious. The Los Angeles Times should […]
Testy Biz Copy Editor: Bitcoin stories still need a nut graf
Bitcoin is a digital token that can be sent electronically from one user to another, anywhere in the world. (New York Times) For years, Testy Copy Editors has been looking for a nut graf that explains bitcoin, because general-interest readers haven’t a clue to what it is. This otherwise helpful explainer doesn’t have one. As […]
Mossberg talks about why tech reporting need to be easy
National Public Radio’s Robert Siegel interviewed legendary tech journalist Walt Mossberg about his career. Mossberg is retiring in June. Here is an excerpt: On getting his start in tech writing, before computers were popularized in personal use What I did was, I took what had been my passion and my hobby privately, which was early computers and … two […]
Sloan: Key to business journalism is writing simply
The key to being a successful business journalist is taking complicating topics and writing about them in a way the average person can understand them, said financial journalism legend Allen Sloan during a talk Wednesday at Stony Brook University. Daniel Gatta of The Statesman writes, “Sloan’s ability to take complex issues and break them down so that the […]
Know the difference between revenue and earnings
The eighth installment in the “Fast and the Furious” had the roads to itself and inched past the $100 million benchmark in the final moments. Studio estimates say “The Fate of the Furious earned a chart-topping $100.2 million over the holiday weekend. (Associated Press) Those weekly reports of movie box-office receipts are notable not only […]
“I” and “Me” in business journalism is bad
Here’s an observation from a recent round of judging for the Society of American Business Editors and Writers’ latest “Best in Business” contest: A lot of submitted pieces in the news features categories used the first person. And right in the lead. That was not the case just a few years ago. The first person […]
How tech journalism legend Walt Mossberg got his start
Shelley Hepworth of Columbia Journalism Review spoke with tech journalist Walt Mossberg, who is retiring in June, about how he got his start writing about personal technology. Here is an excerpt: You founded and wrote the Personal Technology column in the WSJ from 1991 to 2013. What got you interested in writing about tech just […]
Testy biz copy editor pontificates on lazy headlines and writing
“Tall order.” Get it? If you did, the Washington Post headline should have been rewritten. Check that. It should have been rewritten anyway. That was an Associated Press headline. Duplicating headlines on wire stories is one of the great examples of laziness. Even if they’re wrong, they are widely used in print and online. On […]
