Categories: OLD Media Moves

Tracking the economy and business

Zach Tracer, a Duke University senior interested in business journalism, covered the 2011 Computer Assisted Reporting conference and filed a report on a session on tracking the economy and business.

Tracer writes, “Brooks said journalists need to watch municipal finance if they’re looking to catch the next financial crisis. He pointed to labor protests in Wisconsin as a sign of the troubles to come as state and local governments work to balance their budgets.

“‘It just begs for explanation, for numbers that are then interpreted,’ he said. ‘Every budget battle at the local level, every fight over how much we pay teachers or how much garbage taxes are going to go up are rooted in this.’

“To assess municipal finances, Brooks recommended reports from credit rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. He also pointed to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board as source of information on municipal bonds. For experts, he said reporters can turn to the Pew Center on the States.”

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Matt says:
February 25, 2011 at 7:53 am
Not sure if there ultimately will be as much doom and gloom as some are predicting, but there is clearly a renewed readership interest in munis right now. Here are some additional resources for muni coverage:
> http://emma.msrb.org (search required filings from states and local governments with bonds outstanding, along with daily trade data)
> http://www.bondbuyer.com (lots of data on bond sales to go along with daily stories on the market)
> http://www.mma-research.com (sharp research analysts on both the big-picture and market details)