The skills business journalists should have

Michelle Cheng of Quartz writes about the skills needed to be a good business journalist based on the financial news website’s webinar last week about the topic.

Cheng writes, “‘There’s a money angle to everything,’ says Blanca Torres, a producer at KQED public radio with over 17 years of business journalism, who has covered everything from school budgets to real estate at various news publications. For a recent radio segment, she called various Chinese restaurants to see how they have been impacted by the pandemic, including one that had a Michelin star. Convincing her editor that it was still struggling and warranted coverage resulted in a rich conversation, with the business owner describing the lessons he learnt about the business from his immigrant parents, and the racism the restaurant had faced.

“As a former real estate reporter, she says it’s important to show change via numbers, for example. That means to not just report on neighbors complaining about development projects but explain the costs and scope of a project.

“But, there’s the other extreme, too—where reporters may focus too much on the numbers and do not provide enough context. ‘I think understanding numbers and understanding how money fits into your story is so important,’ she says.

“She cited the surprise news last year that reality TV star Kylie Jenner had become a billionaire—a fact that was later disputed. ‘Be on the lookout for what is truth and what is marketing,’ she says.”

Read more here.