LA biz journalists talk coverage

Business journalists from the Los Angeles area gave tips and advice recently at a function on how they operate and what they look for in coverage.

“Breaking news is a premium, and everyone is doing it,” said John Corrigan, Los Angeles Times business editor. “We are interested in the economy, recovery, but we are also interested in many other issues. We’re also interested in the digital revolution, the social networking; we’re interested in how people are saving money more now and how they are changing their purchasing habits. We are definitely interested in health care and health care reform. We try to have a mix of stories everyday on different issues. Clearly the overall economy is a big story, but there are a lot other good stories out there.”

The Times has two reporters dedicated to writing breaking news in the morning. If it is company earnings, “a short story will be posted Online right away and longer story follows,” he said. “The workload has gotten harder, because reporters are writing one version for the web and another for print most of the time. A lot of our stories end up on A-1, because the economy is so important.”

The Los Angeles Daily News is looking for recovery and glimmer of hope stories according to longtime Business Editor Greg Wilcox. “I newsroom works a little differently than the Times, especially in the Business section. Years ago we used to have reporters on various beats. Today, we have an assistant city editor, who’s in charge of business, and then we have the business staff and that’s me.”

Read more here.