Business journalism ripe for innovation

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Longtime business news organizations will continue to be hurt by new media that deliver the same content online, according to a panel of business journalism entrepreneurs Friday.

“We routinely scoop our competition,” said Elizabeth MacBride, the founder and editor of RIABiz.com, which covers the independent investor advisor business. MacBride, who started her site in 2009, said it will report $250,000 in revenue this year and has four employees working out of their homes across the country.

MacBride, a former editor at Crain’s New York Business, and other business journalism entrepreneurs spoke at the “Getting Started in Business News” conference, held at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. The conference attracted nearly 60 college students from 15 universities across the country.

Stacy-Marie Ishmael, the editor of a new subscription-based site called FT Tilt being launched by the Financial Times, worked for its Alphaville blog. She said such sites are successful because they cater to readers with a high level of intelligence and don’t pander to readers.

“We assume if you’re reading Alphaville, you already know what LIBOR is, and to define it would be patronizing,” said Ishmael.

Other business news sites say the way they’re delivering business news to readers makes it more easy to read. Jessica Liebman, the managing editor at The Business Editor, told the students that her site has a “little bit of an edge” but is “more accessible” to readers. The site has a staff of about 40.

Said Ishmael: “When you write online, you have to get to the point. It’s a lot like Hemingway.”