The changed PR-journalist equation
Last week my former Associated Press client Tori Ekstrand invited me to speak at the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After a two–hour snow delay in New York, I finally found my way to the Freedom Forum Center on campus where Tori, now an assistant […]
Frankie Flack: How did I get this terrible pitch?
A few weeks ago I used this column to complain about how marketing fundamentals were invading the public relations field and eroding media relations basics. New tools for a new era of engagement has had a sweeping impact on the public relations field. While I firmly believe that this new way of thinking has been […]
What business journalists can get out of an MBA
Louise Story of The New York Times writes for a Columbia University website, Covering Business, about how an MBA can help a business journalist. Story writes, “Accounting, Statistics, Excel – if those sound like dirty words to you, you might consider forcing yourself to learn them. The basic concepts of accounting – flows versus stocks, […]
Winkler: Facts matter in age of instantaneous expression
Technology such as Twitter is diminishing the value of journalism, Bloomberg editor in chief Matt Winkler said in a speech Tuesday in Dallas on the Southern Methodist University campus. Kelsey Charles of The Daily Campus writes, “Social media and the idea of demonstrating information have become more popular than ever in recent years, but to […]
Avoiding errors, and what to do when they happen
The quick pace of social media and the Web have escalated the importance of getting a story right the first time and avoiding errors as a journalist, said Forbes managing editor for business news Dan Bigman in a conference call with Forbes contributors from New York Tuesday. “Just correcting an error doesn’t necessarily correct the […]
Frankie Flack on bullying business reporters
A few weeks ago I was catching up with a reporter, who I have come to know well, over a few beers. In the course of our conversation I asked him about his recent interactions with other PR people. This is a question I ask all the reporters I know because the stories are all […]
Using texting to report business news stories
CNBC reporter Kayla Tausche says her most effective tool in reporting about Wall Street is to text her major sources. “Email is great, but many times people don’t want to leave a paper trail,” said Tausche in a talk Monday morning. “Texting has been the single-most important thing to my reporting.” Tausche spoke Monday at […]
A former Goldman Sachs banker on spotting a clueless biz reporter
An anonymous former Goldman Sachs banker has posted an item on Business Insider on how to spot a clueless financial journalist. The ex-banker writes, “Here’s a hint for anyone who follows financial news but who has never worked in the industry: Markets never move in response to a rating agency change. “Never. “Ever. “Markets move […]
A focus on local business coverage
Ken Tingley of The Glen Falls Post-Star in New York writes about his paper’s business reporter, Jamie Munks, has started a new feature focusing on local, small businesses. Tingley writes, “The premise is to tell our readers about local businesses they don’t know about, if they have unique products or a business model that others […]
A story subject takes interest in reporter’s self-marketing
Lindsay Riddell, a reporter for the San Francisco Business Times, writes about how about.me founder Larry Conrad has taken a personal interest in improving her page on the site. Riddell writes, “The photo on my about.me page is a picture of me interviewing Tesla Motors Chairman Elon Musk, taken by venture capitalist and Tesla investor […]
