Style drift in business journalism

Seen any style drift lately? Yes you have. And you’re likely to see more. Style drift? It’s the term that applies when a business news service covers a story that isn’t really business news. Remember that white dress/blue dress debate? All the biz majors – text, digital, and TV — were on top of that […]

The business news cycles that keep a media mogul awake

If you’re a news mogul, you need to keep an eye on turf fights, especially among your platforms. Why? Well, TV producers want people watching TV all the time. Web folks want people clicking all the time. Radio and podcasters want people listening all the time. So the platforms compete. It’s noticeable in news media […]

The problem with small business news coverage

“Hi, I’m a small business owner.” Does anybody introduce themselves like that at a party? Airport bar? School picnic? No. It’s “I’m in shoes” or “I’m a restauranteur” or “I do software consulting.”* Yet business news outfits insist on covering small businesses as, well, “small business.” And, in large part, they fail; no huge audience […]

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 […]

Why “ticker packing” is a danger to business journalism

Have you bumped into any “ticker packing” lately? Probably not, thankfully. But we might start seeing it more in the hot new sales sector: Video. (Deep sigh). “Ticker packing” is the practice of jamming as many stock symbols as you can into a story. Why do that? Well, stock symbols are what the major portals […]

Hey young biz reporters, how about picking up the phone?

Real conversation with a newbie reporter a few months ago… “Allen, I think I found that guy, but I couldn’t get him to respond on Twitter or Linkedin.” Me: “You got a name?” “Yes.” Me: “You got where he lives?” “Yes.” Me: “Try the phone book?” “Huh, call?” Yes, the cold call…where the innate shyness […]