Chicago Fed to host economics reporting seminar in February

The Concordia Free Enterprise Center (CFEC), Economics Wisconsin, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago invite you to attend the ECONOMICS FOR OPINION LEADERS: Journalists & Media Professionals program being held Feb. 17-19, 2025 in Chicago.

All members of the media are encouraged to apply for this award-winning educational seminar. There will be an opening reception on Sunday evening featuring special guest, Chris Roush, author of “The Future of Business Journalism: Why it Matters for Wall Street and Main Street.” Overnight accommodations will be provided at the JW Marriott Chicago followed by 1.5 days of instruction at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

This program is open to all Midwest journalists including TV, radio, print and digital media. Attendees from outlets such as Crain’s, The Chicago Tribune, WTTW, Thomson Reuters, Biz Times Media, and many more have attended in the past and found the program a worthwhile investment of their time.

Included in the $25 registration fee are seminar materials and book, hotel accommodations, and meals during the event. In addition, a $200 travel stipend and a $25 registration refund will be offered upon completion of the program. Early application is encouraged, as the program has filled in previous years.* Application fee will be refunded whether or not you’ve been accepted into the program.

This seminar is designed to provide busy journalists with a breadth of college-level economics content in a fast-paced two-day format. Many important issues – inflation, interest rates, the environment, unemployment – have implications for the public.  The instruction will equip journalists with the tools needed to decipher today’s economy and become more adept at analyzing the policies put forward by politicians and advocacy groups, as well as the public’s response to these policies. Our partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago allows us to reach media professionals across the Seventh District while offering valuable insight to journalists from within the banking system.

This seminar will:

• Be presented by a team of experienced economic educators focused on teaching basic economic principles and how they may relate to journalists and other media professionals.
• Provide real-life examples via presentations, simulations, videos and interactive discussions.
• Explain common economic terms and highlight practical applications of the “economic way of thinking.”
• Help journalists better understand the economics of the stories they are covering and how those stories may impact their readers, viewers and listeners.

Topics covered include:

• Economic way of thinking
• Market prices and labor markets
• Institutions of a market economy
• Numbers in the newsroom: GDP, CPI, and the unemployment rate
• Monetary policy and the Federal Reserve system
• Marginal analysis
• Behavioral economics
• International trade and the global economic scene
• And much more

About our featured guest speaker:

Chris Roush is a longtime business journalist and university professor. He is the author of five books on business journalism, including “The Future of Business Journalism: Why it Matters for Wall Street and Main Street,” “Profits and Losses: Business Journalism and its Role in Society” and “Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication.” He was dean of the Quinnipiac University School of Communications and the Walter Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he created the business journalism program. His former students now work on the business desks of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, Dallas Morning News and American City Business Journals publications. In 2010, he was named Journalism Teacher of the Year by the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He is also the founder of the Talking Biz News website, which covers news about business journalism.

More detailed information about our organizations and this program may be found at the  Registration page for this event. Important note: Federal Reserve requirements related to security will be communicated with you after registration.

If you have questions about the program or the registration process, please contact Julie at julie@ewwcee.org

We hope that you can benefit from this valuable professional development opportunity. Please forward this information to colleagues who may be interested in attending, as well, and feel free to share via relevant social media outlets, etc.