Media News

The five core missions of business journalism

Rick Dunham

Longtime business journalist Rick Dunham, who runs the global business journalism program at Tsinghua University in China, talks about the five core missions of business journalism.

“These core goals are informing the public, interpreting economic trends, holding power accountable, guiding decision-making, and telling broader stories about innovation and inequality,” said Dunham.

Business journalism seeks to inform the public by demystifying complex concepts from interest rates to global supply chains, said Dunham. “It translates jargon so everyone can understand the implications,” he said. “It’s not just about the what, but also the why and how. Connecting distant corporate decisions to everyday lives.”

He added: “Despite challenges like misinformation and revenue model shifts, the mission of business journalism persists. Remember that strong business journalism serves as a vital resource for the global public.”

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

Recent Posts

Business Insider and Jeffrey Epstein’s mugshot

Max Tani of Semafor reports how Business Insider removed a mug shot of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein,…

55 minutes ago

Examining WSJ’s Ball, now in charge of features

Oliver Darcy of Status writes about Sarah Ball, who has been elevated at The Wall Street…

60 minutes ago

The truth about covering Amazon for Washington Post

Former Washington Post technology columnist Geoffrey Fowler writes on his new Substack about covering Aamazon.com., founded by…

3 hours ago

Peck returns to Axios Markets newsletter

Axios national correspondent Emily Peck will be taking over the Axios Markets newsletter from Madison Mills, who is…

9 hours ago

Mills to cover AI for Axios

Axios has tapped Madison Mills as a senior artificial intelligence reporter and co-author of the…

10 hours ago

Benson promoted to senior ME at Politico

Clea Benson has been promoted to senior managing editor at Politico. She previously was managing…

10 hours ago