Covering more than the basic economic stories
Harel Amsalem profiles San Diego Union-Tribune business reporter Jonathan Horn and his ability to find stories beneath the surface. Amsalem writes, “Horn said there are certain stories that he enjoys reporting. “‘A lot of the ones that stuck with me are the ones where you tell the story of people,’ Horn said. “The recent economic […]
The issues with covering Trump and his net worth
Timothy O’Brien of Bloomberg View, who wrote a book about Donald Trump, writes about the difficulties in covering the net worth of the Republican presidential candidate’s net worth, which Trump pegged at $10 billion. O’Brien writes, “But Donald had no idea how hard it was to get this right! On a single day in August […]
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 […]
The pros/cons of pitching biz reporters through social media
At public relations firms specializing in financial services, it’s a good rule of thumb — and often suggested — that PR practitioners also start following relevant business reporters for their clients on Twitter. New PR pros thus glean insight into the daily activity of reporters, including their drinking habits, hobbies, when they ace a Buzzfeed […]
Development authority refuses to release documents to business newspaper
A Mississippi development authority is refusing to release proposals it received for a convention center hotel by a June 30 deadline after the Mississippi Business Journal submitted a freedom of information request. Ted Carter of the newspaper writes, “The Mississippi Business Journal has submitted an open records request for the newest round of proposals. The […]
How Joe Weisenthal loosens up Bloomberg
Ricardo Bilton of Digiday interviewed Joe Weisenthal of Bloomberg, whose show “What’d You Miss?” debuted recently. Here is an excerpt: Business coverage, when done right, can be as compelling as sports. The overlap between coverage of market movements and professional sports seems minimal. On the other hand, finance watchers obsess over the moves of people […]
The clock that tech reporters use to cover companies
Aaron Zamost, currently head of communications at Square, writes about tech reporters use a regular clock schedule to cover the industry’s companies. Zamost writes: 1:00 SVT: Shiny new toy. It’s around 1:00 that the first real article is written about your company. With the right connections, anyone can make it to 1:00. You’ve launched your […]
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 […]
Union says Reuters is re-emphasizing speed
The News Guild of New York has posted an item on its website noting that Reuters is emphasizing speed and accuracy among its reporters after several years of focusing on investigative stories. The guild wrote: Regional Editor, Americas, Dayan Candappa, who led the management side of the discussion, emphasized that speed is of primary importance […]
Cultural shift away from investigations at Bloomberg?
Damaris Colhoun writes for Columbia Journalism Review that reporters and editors inside Bloomberg are worried about a cultural shift away from aggressive and investigative reporting. Colhoun writes, “The strongest evidence that a philosophical shift is underway surfaces in three internal memos that were given to CJR. Written by Micklethwait, who sends staff memos every week, […]
