Strong interest among college students in biz journalism conference

More than 55 undergraduate and master’s college students from across the country have applied to attend a two-day conference on business journalism in New York next month.

The conference, organized by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and held at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, guarantees students picked to attend at least two interviews with business journalism organizations such as Bloomberg News, Reuters, Dow Jones and American City Business Journals.

The event will be held Oct. 22 to Oct. 24 and will include sessions on tips from business journalism internship coordinators and advice from new business journalists on getting that first job in the field. Fortune senior editor at large Allan Sloan will be the keynote speaker.

The students will also interview a CEO and then write a story based on that interview and their research of the executive’s company. Awards will be given to the best stories, which will be judged by a panel of business journalists and professors.

Students who applied come from schools such as UNC-Chapel Hill, CUNY, Baruch College, Northwestern University, Ohio University, University of Oklahoma, Washington & Lee University, University of South Carolina, and Humboldt State University in California. Those selected to attend will be notified by Sept. 18. The deadline to apply was last week.

A grant from Progress Energy will pay for the students’ lodging and food while they are in New York.

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