Finke duped by false tip
Entertainment business reporter Nikki Finke was duped into believing a false tip about a new Ghostbusters movie, reports Ian Mohr of the New York Post. Mohr writes, “Dangling the carrot further, one ‘tipster’ claimed Deadline was running the Landis story the next day. Another begged Finke not to run the story as it was promised […]
Sageworks makes private company data available to biz reporters
Sageworks, a financial information company, announced Tuesday that its industry data on privately held companies is now available to journalists free of charge. Members of the media can now access the most up-to-date data on the sales, profit and debt trends of private companies in 17 primary industry categories — including manufacturing, retail, construction, health […]
How Marketplace prepared for Obama interview
“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdel and the rest of the staff produced a video explaining how they prepared for an interview with President Barack Obama.
Bryant on writing the “Corner Office”
Adam Bryant, who writes the “Corner Office” for the New York Times, was interviewed by David J. Parnell of Forbes.com about how he writes his regular column. Here is an excerpt: Parnell: Why did you start Corner Office? Bryant: I was a business reporter here at the [New York] Times for many years throughout the […]
Horse business reporter has his dream job
Gregory Hall, who has been covering the horse business and agriculture for the Louisville Courier-Journal since 2005, writes about his dream job. Hall writes, “Basically all I ever wanted to do in journalism was cover the horse industry for The Courier-Journal. Here I sit doing just that, since late 2005, counting my blessings (and cursing […]
Frankie Flack: Dear biz writers, your bourbon coverage sucks
Most of my issues with business journals are relatively minor. Sure: I’d like to see broader coverage of my clients. I’d like to see a little more variety in story structure. But it’s no big deal. But I do have a major beef. You guys are messing with my bourbon, and you need to knock […]
Reuters and its GM scoop
Earlier this month, Reuters exclusively reported that at least 74 people have died in General Motors cars in accidents with some key similarities to those that GM has linked to 13 deaths involving defective ignition switches. The scoop was the result of a Reuters analysis of government fatal-crash data, which also showed that such accidents […]
The NYTimes and its use of anonymous sources in biz stories
Margaret Sullivan, the public editor of the New York Times, writes about how the paper’s business news desk used anonymous sources when writing that golfer Phil Mickelson was being investigated for insider trading. Sullivan writes, “I talked with the business editor, Dean Murphy, on Tuesday about one of the cases mentioned above: A story that […]
Fortune’s Serwer: Good business journalism can be positive
Public relations professionals and others shouldn’t classify stories about companies as “good” or “bad,” said Fortune magazine managing editor Andy Serwer. Good business journalism can relate positive stories, but the best stories are stories that are unusual and different, he added. “If we told only good stories, that would mean that the world is inherently […]
Apple PR vs. other tech companies
Kara Swisher of Re/code writes Friday about the retirement of Apple PR head Katie Cotton and her reputation among tech reporters of being the most difficult person to work with. Swisher writes, “But, despite what many of her detractors have written since the news of her departure came, I was never ‘scared’ of her, any […]
