Sloan and Nocera assess state of business journalism

Newsweek columnist Allan Sloan and New York Times columnist Joseph Nocera both assessed the current state of business journalism for Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman in his Monday column.

Friedman wrote, “This is a crucial period in the annals of business journalism, which has periodically been a fairly predictable (though some might substitute the word “sleepy”) segment of the publishing industry. BusinessWeek, Fortune and Fast Company, to name three well known titles, all have relatively new top editors.

“And the excitement in the industry is bound to build soon, too. Consider that even though the outside world knows very little about Conde Nast Portfolio, which will hit newsstands next May, this business magazine has been given a massive build-up by the curious but ultimately clueless media (yes, me included).

“Television news may figure in the upheaval as well. Don’t forget that Fox is said to be developing a channel dealing specifically with financial matters. Meanwhile, CNBC has a new business-news chief, Jonathan Wald, and it’s busily retooling its programming lineup (yes, again), trying diligently for the umpteenth time to attract additional viewers to its primetime fare.”

On what it takes to be a great business journalist:

Nocera: “It requires a curiosity, a doggedness, an ability to dig. Business has a language of its own. There’s a perception that business journalism is boring — and that drives me crazy. IT’S NOT. I think it’s endlessly fascinating.”

Sloan: “It requires the same skills that it takes to be a great writer about anything else. I have to explain to (readers) why they should care. Writing for a general audience is a high calling.”

Nocera: “Allan’s column has a point of view. He drills down like nobody drills down. You always learn something…I’m trying to tell a story and put it into context.”

Sloan: “Joe modified magazine writing to newspapers, as newspaper columns keep getting smaller. He makes good use of his space.”

Nocera: “I hope my editors read this!”

Read more here.