Business journalism for young reporters

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

A panel of young business reporters encouraged college students Friday to learn as much as they can about business to make themselves better equipped to handle business and economics stories.

“It’s about being a learner,” said Julia LaRoche, who works for CNBC.com. “I feel like I learn something new every day.”

LaRoche and other young business journalists spoke Friday morning at the “Getting Started in Business News” conference, which is being held at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York and is being attended by nearly 60 college students from 15 different universities.

Sapna Maheshwari, who covers corporate bonds for Bloomberg News, said she didn’t want to become a business journalist in high school or at the beginning of her college career. But she told the college students that she loves her job.

“I would never have guessed that corporate bonds is what I wanted to cover,” said Maheshwari, noting she has written stories recently about eBay and Wal-Mart. “There’s a financial part to everything.”

The reporters said that they work 10- to 11-hour days, but they also maintain social lives. They said one of the hardest things about their jobs is learning to write in a way that the average person can understand arcane topics such as quantitative easing or zero coupon bonds.

“It’s about finding your voice as a writer,” said LaRoche.

Both LaRoche and Maheshwari have jobs that resulted after internships. They both urged students to work hard during an internship, offering to do work that may not necessarily be part of their normal duties.

“You can’t just be an intern,” said LaRoche. “You have to go above and beyond your duties.”

The reporters declined to disclose their salaries when asked by the students, but Maheshwari said her pay was “good.”