The problem with obsessing about scoops
Eric Jackson of Forbes.com writes Friday about how business journalists spend too much time chasing after scoops. Jackson writes, “What also annoys me about journalists — and we’ve seen this in spades through this Yahoo! drama over the past 2 months — is that they seem obsessed with ‘scoops.’ There seems to be no higher […]
What a job covering business issues can teach you
Gerri Willis of Fox Business Network writes about her first job in journalism and how it taught her the importance of business in everyone’s life. Willis writes, “I didn’t start out wanting to be a business reporter or a commentator on personal finance. Not by a long shot – I wanted to cover politics. And, […]
Biz reporters still look at corporate sites, increase social media usage
A survey released Monday shows that 81 percent of journalists turn to corporate websites when looking for story ideas, reporting on breaking news or seeking a corporate representative. According to the business journalists surveyed, the most useful information on a corporate website includes: Contact information (98 percent); search capabilities (94 percent); text documents (87 percent); […]
Student business journalists bust open a million-dollar bust near campus
Ioanna Makris, Caroline Courtney and April Cunningham are journalism students at Texas Tech who work for the student newspaper, the Daily Toreador. In recent weeks, they have reported the story about the ownership of a parking garage that was built adjacent to campus. As you can see if you click on the attached links, it’s […]
Reflections of a career in business journalism
Tom Shean is a business writer at The Virginian-Pilot who is retiring Friday, Nov. 11 after 32 years with the paper. He talked about his career with Pilot writer Amy Jeter. Here is an excerpt: When I was in graduate school, I’d planned to report on city matters. I was really interested in municipal issues, […]
A biz editor getting into the Halloween spirit
Business editor Don Worthington of the Rock Hill Herald is getting into the Halloween spirit at Carowinds, an amusement park between Rock Hill, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C. His column about why he dressed up at the park will run on Oct. 31.
The importance of investigative reporting
Business journalist Jesse Eisinger, who won a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year for his work for ProPublica, was interviewed by Morgan Watkins of Quill magazine about his reporting tactics and the importance of investigative journalism. Here are some excerpts: How have public records helped you in your work? I don’t do a lot of reporting […]
How a mistake makes it into the business section
Patrick Pexton, the ombudsman for the Washington Post, writes about how the business section of the paper recently had an error. Pexton writes, “The Natural Resources Defense Council is one of the country’s largest environmental groups with 1.3 million members, an annual budget of $95 million and a staff of some 300 lawyers, scientists and […]
How business journalists can use — and should use — social media
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE Business journalists needs to use social media to find stories and sources, accordig to a group of reporters and editors who spoke Friday in New York. “There [are] four aspects to social media when using it professionally,” said Tiffany Black, a former producer with Inc.com. “One is to listen. Two is to […]
TV news stories on jobs ignore unemployment data
Julia Seymour of the Business & Media Institute reports Thursday that more than three-fourths of the September jobs stories (77 percent) on broadcast television didn’t mention the 9.1 unemployment rate at all. Seymour writes, “Several stories put a positive spin on the horrendous jobs situation and only four stories mentioned that more than 14 million […]
