A good business journalist needs a calendar
If you are a business reporter covering a particular sector or group of companies there is one item you definitely need in your toolbox: A calendar. And it should look a lot like the calendars of the CEOs on your beat. This is a big difference between business journalism and general news. Police busts and […]
How business journalists can develop a personal brand
Journalists must invest in creating “professional assurance” for themselves, said Dorie Clark, author of “Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future,” during a training call hosted by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers on Monday. “It’s not just what you do on social media, but it’s important what people think about you and how people […]
This is a drill. This is only a drill
Practice makes perfect. Luckily for business journalism, there are plenty of opportunities for practice. The trick is taking advantage of those opportunities so when lightning strikes, you’re prepared. Every week various economic numbers are released. Some have peripheral importance, others have medium importance, and some are very, very important. But every one of them is […]
How automation helps the AP write earnings stories
Celeste Lecompte writes for Nieman Reports about how the Associated Press and assistant business editor Philana Patterson are using automated software to write earnings stories. Lecompte writes, “The Associated Press’s data is provided by Zacks Investment Research; that company uses human analysts who review Securities and Exchange Commission data, stock pricing, and press releases to build […]
Being fast and smart while reporting the jobs number
One of the regular tests of business news competence and execution is coming this Friday: the jobs number. It’s always an important number — the primary thermometer of how the economy is doing. This time around it will attract even more attention, given the market anxiety over the Fed’s September interest rate decision. For business […]
Lessons learned from Fortune’s Carol Loomis
Josh Brown of The Reformed Broker listed to a recent podcast with legendary business journalist Carol Loomis of Fortune and came away with several lessons. Here are some of them: 2. Don’t fear the unknown – the Fortune system didn’t involve specific beats for reporters. Stories were assigned and writers were sent out with next […]
Business journalism and the nut graph
There is probably nothing more squandered in business journalism than the nut graph. And as what is arguably the most important money event of the year is about to hit, the business press as a whole is likely to do it again. The nut graph: That’s the paragraph where you tell people why the story […]
How to succeed in a metric-driven news operation
Journalists shouldn’t be afraid of data today, but they should be aware of the metrics and analytics that can be measured online and use the information to dissect what stories do well and what stories don’t do well, said Josh Awtry, an editor of two local newspapers in the Carolinas. “As an industry we are […]
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 […]
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 […]
