Snapchat CEO and Forbes clash over cover story

The 23-year-old CEO of Snapchat criticized journalists on Twitter Monday morning, claiming that some details in a recent Forbes cover story about his startup were misreported, but Forbes responded hours later with a transcript from Spiegel’s interview with the story’s author, reporter J.J. Colao, essentially proving that Spiegel misled the publication during its reporting. Kurt […]

When labor and the biz media meet

Judy Ancel of LaborNotes.org writes about how labor leaders and the business media that cover them in Kansas City have met every month for breakfast since 1988. Ancel writes,At first, getting union officers to attend an open forum with media was a tough sell. Most didn’t trust the media and hadn’t thought about how to […]

Challenges facing young business journalists

In the last installment of this series, we’ll look at some of the challenges that young business journalists face in today’s media landscape. A common theme running through all five installments is the recognition that avoiding errors is a journalist’s first responsibility. News moves faster, farther and wider than ever before, and given the ever-increasing […]

Investigating accounting problems at the Pentagon

Reuters recently published part two of an investigative series on the high cost of the Pentagon’s bookkeeping. The series, by Reuters reporter Scot Paltrow, revealed that accounting issues at the Pentagon have led to widespread pay errors for America’s soldiers, a persistent inability to tally financial records and ledgers doctored with false entries. Paltrow talks […]

How Marketwatch uses polls of its readers to report stories

A Marketwatch.com story last week about investing in the Twitter initial public offering originated from a poll that had run earlier in the week that allowed folks to leave an email address if they wanted to be contacted by a reporter. It’s a reporting tactic that can be useful during a time when all journalists, […]

Reporting a company scoop

Reuters correspondent Claire Jim recently reported that Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC was scaling back production lines as cash flow worsened. Following the story, the stock rose as analysts credited the scoop as a key factor as investors predicted the cuts would lift cash flow. Jim spoke about how the story was reported: Q. How did […]

Amazon book writer responds to MacKenzie Bezos critique

Brad Stone, the Bloomberg Businessweek reporter who recently published a book about Amazon.com, writes in response to a one-star review the book received from McKenzie Bezos, the wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Stone writes, “No matter how hard we strive for objectivity, writers are biased toward tension — those moments in which character is […]

Amazon criticizes book by Bloomberg Businessweek writer

Amazon.com says that the book written about the company and founder Jeff Bezos by Bloomberg Businessweek writer Brad Stone was not properly fact-checked, writes Jay Yarow of Business Insider. Yarow writes, “Amazon spokesperson Craig Berman sent us this statement: ‘Over the course of the author’s reporting, Amazon facilitated meetings for him with more than half a dozen […]

How to cover the transportation beat

Andy Riga of the Montreal Gazette writes for Curbingcars.com on how to cover the transportation beat. Riga writes, “Want to be a transport reporter? Here’s my road map to a fulfilling (and fun) beat. “1) Make it practical. Help people get around, whatever their preferred mode. Major roadwork, transit interruptions, bike-path obstructions. I write ‘em […]

Why can’t we all just get along?

Talking Biz News hosted a conference Friday at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York about the state of business journalism. The first panel featured journalists, former journalists, corporate public relations officers and PR agency executives exploring the relationships between corporations and business journalists. Many on the panel agreed that today’s fast-paced news […]