TheDeal.com Executive Editor Yvette Kantrow took issue with several comments made by new Society of Professional Journalists President Christine Tatum, an assistant business editor of the Denver Post, on Talking Biz News about business journalism.
Specifically, Kantrow had a problem with a comment by Tatum about what business journalism should be. Tatum criticized stories that were too “inside baseball” and were written for the business leaders.
Kantrow stated, “As Tatum sees it, markets, numbers, transactions, deals — the stuff she calls ‘inside baseball’ but what is actually the foundation of the whole topic of business itself — are a snoozefest and therefore should be avoided at all costs. In her view, if you’re not an investor, broker or business owner, why would you possibly want to read about ‘transactional horse races’ and other potentially challenging topics like interest rates, the economy and what’s going on inside that big corporate headquarters down the street? After all, they’re hard to understand and filled with those annoying numbers and percentage points that don’t really ‘impact’ readers’ lives. (Just an aside: So how exactly does ‘news’ about Suri Cruise impact readers’ lives?) Business journalism should be service journalism, according to Tatum. Don’t bore readers with details about all the corporate machinations going on at troubled giants like Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.; just tell them how to negotiate a good deal on their next new car. “There are a couple of things that seem depressingly wrong-headed about this. First of all, Tatum seems blissfully unaware that we live in a so-called ownership society, so we are all supposedly investors now, whether through our 401(k)s at work or our IRAs at home. So if there’s ever been a time for ‘consumers’ to be more educated about business than less, this is it, even if it means taking some time out of their busy coupon-clipping schedules. Similarly, while Tatum advocates giving readers information they can use to find, get or keep a job, she doesn’t entertain the possibility that being up on business news, including transactional horse races, could be helpful with that. Workplace trends stories are nice, but when it comes time to ask for that promotion, isn’t it better, or at least equally as important, to go in armed with information about your industry and your competitors gleaned from the business press than with the latest career counselor speak?”
Read more here.
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Right on, Yvette! The problem that goes unmentioned is that it actually takes some knowledge about business to understand how they operate, as opposed to the puff consumerism pieces. Most papers have business staffs that may have started out on the news desk and learned about business from writing about it, as opposed to those who work at specialty business publications and the majors, who more likely have some formal training in the matter (finance degrees, MBAs anyone?) or may have even come from business, banking, or consulting. Can't tell you how many errors I see in local papers due to unskilled business reporters trying to tackle (and mangle) subjects beyond their ability. Thanks to the rise in stock owernship in the '90s, business now is akin to sports -- a surprising number of people do follow the "inside baseball" from both a financial interest standpoint, as well as a curiosity standpoint.