Business news readers are more sophisticated than before

Readers of business news have become more sophisticated, says Andrew Leckey, director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, in an article on the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University web site.

The article stated, “Leckey says that business readers are increasingly sophisticated: more of them have business degrees, including MBAs, and more of them are familiar with business concepts. Young people have benefited from the impact of technology, he added. They are more receptive to content that demands a familiarity with business fundamentals, and, encouragingly, fewer are afraid of math.

“Leckey, whose center focuses on education for aspiring business reporters, says that the current crop of students are actually easier to teach than previous generations — ‘they pick it up quicker,’ he said. This will come as good news to business executives. In a survey of 500 corporate CEOs conducted before the Reynolds Center opened, Leckey discovered that only one-third characterized media coverage of business as accurate.

“Business should care about the quality of business reporting, Leckey argues, because wide coverage is ‘inherently good for business.’ It’s important to a company’s stock price to be widely known, and it makes it easier to hire good people. ‘The flow of information helps companies do their job better, because they get feedback,’ he added. ‘Nobody likes to do business in a vacuum.”

Read more here.