Too many "buts" in Black Friday coverage
Hal Morris, writing on his Grumpy Editor blog, notes the preponderance of “buts” in stories about Black Friday shopping. Morris writes, “Best balance — without a but — was in the Midwest where Grumpy Editor noticed this paragraph by Doug Schorpp in the Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa:  “‘It’s difficult to get a handle on […]
Stock market headlines all sound alike
Derek Donovan, the readers’ representative at the Kansas City Star, notes that the paper’s headlines about the stock market all seem to be similar. Donovan writes, “Just today, you have ‘Dow drops as investors worry’ on A-1 and ‘Investors’ anxiety fuels dips’ on C-1. Yesterday saw ‘Disappointing earnings outlooks fuel dip; But analysts say investor […]
Cliche watch, business edition
Philip Corbett, the deputy news editor at the New York Times who is also in charge of the paper’s style manual, takes a look at the cliches that have crept into the paper’s business coverage. Corbett writes, “In one stretch of business coverage last month, we used the phrase ‘double down’ three times in four […]
SmartMoney using readers to guide economic turmoil content
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE Like BusinessWeek, which is soliciting story ideas from its readers online, personal finance magazine SmartMoney is also tapping into its readers and their issues with the current market turmoil to guide its coverage. SmartMoney.com editor Tom Weber tells Talking Biz News that the magazine recently set up an online financial crisis […]
More adjectives, please
Allen Wastler, the managing editor of CNBC.com adds his two cents to the current discussion in business journalism about what words to use to accurately describe the stock market’s daily gyrations. Wastler writes, “The market-write, typically updated 6 times a day rain or shine, is the bread and butter of business coverage. Yet the work […]
SABEW to hold call Thursday on writing personal finance stories
The Society of American Business Editors and Writers will hold a conference call Thursday on personal finance stories to write now during the Wall Street turmoil. The call will be held at noon Eastern Standard Time. Panelists on the call will be Gail MarksJarvis, the personal finance and markets columnist at the Chicago Tribune; John […]
"Right to work" is not a neutral term
Jason Salzman writes Saturday in the Rocky Mountain News that the term “right to work” shows bias in reporting. Salzman writes, “Rocky reporter Joanne Kelley told me she and others have been ‘really careful to describe how the laws work and what it all means.’ That’s true. But labels matter, and Kelley and Vuong said I […]
Debate among busines journalists about the word "crash"
Ellen Simon of the Associated Press reports that business journalists are being cautious about using the word “crash” to describe what’s going on in the stock market. Simon writes, “CNBC host Dylan Ratigan was among those uttering the word on Thursday, calling the decline ‘a cascading crash.’ The Wall Street Journal, the most influential publication […]
Marketplace keeps its levity, stays away from CNBC reporting
Randy Dotinga of the North County Times in California writes Wednesday about the public radio business show Marketplace, which has kept its sense of humor when reporting about the current state of the economy and the market. Dotinga writes, “‘We work at that aspect of the show,’ said Kai Ryssdal, the host of the afternoon […]
Business TV's challenge is to explain and provide answers
Brian Stelter of the New York Times writes Sunday about how business journalists on television have struggled to provide explanations and answers to viewers in the past week about the Wall Street turmoil. Stelter writes, “Jonathan Wald, the senior vice president for business news at CNBC, said the network’s priority remains getting information to viewers […]
