Two dozen biz journalists selected for data immersion workshop

The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing has selected 25 business journalists to attend the five-day SABEW Goldschmidt Data Immersion Workshop, to be held Jan. 13-17 in Washington, D.C.

The fellows were chosen from a pool of 45 applicants.

The workshop provides an interactive experience into how government creates and uses data. Participants will be able to speak directly with professionals who compile and manage the statistics. Journalists will talk with experts at the Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve and Congressional Budget Office. The fellows will learn how to tap into non-governmental data as well, including data from the Investment Company Institute.

This is the seventh year of the workshop, which will again be led by Marty Steffens, SABEW chair in business and financial reporting at the University of Missouri, and Kevin G. Hall, SABEW past president and chief economics correspondent and senior investigative reporter for McClatchy Washington Bureau.

Steffens, a former newspaper executive editor, has organized more than 100 journalist workshops since she became an endowed chair in 2002. Longtime Washington journalist Hall was part of the 2017 Pulitzer-winning team that dissected the Panama Papers.

“Business reporting is a process of continuing education,” Steffens said. “To do the job right, reporters need immersion training, not just spot training. The training is intensive, hands-on and classroom-style.”

The program is made possible by a grant from the Chicago-based Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation.

“SABEW is grateful to Jim Goldschmidt and the Goldschmidt Foundation who have been a loyal funding partner since 2010,” said Kathleen Graham, executive director of SABEW.  “The data workshop comes at a critical time when our First Amendment Committee is advocating for journalists’ access to government experts, records and data.”

2020 SABEW Goldschmidt fellows:

Ferdous Al-Faruque, senior reporter, Medtech Insight
Melissa Angell, reporter, SourceMedia
Silvia Ascarelli, senior news editor, Dow Jones MarketWatch
Adam Behsudi, trade reporter, POLITICO
Michelle Cheng, reporter, Quartz
Chelsea Diana, reporter, Albany Business Review
Sarah Foster, U.S. economy reporter, Bankrate
Stephanie Horan, data journalist, SmartAsset
Megan Leonhardt, senior money reporter, CNBC
Ryan Lynch, staff writer, Orlando Business Journal
Lynne Marek, senior reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business
Hannah McCartney, data editor, Cincinnati Business Courier
Tristan Navera, staff reporter, Columbus Business First
Reade Pickert, U.S. economy reporter, Bloomberg
Samuel Robinson, freelance reporter, amNewYork
Polo Rocha, Federal Reserve reporter, S&P Global Market Intelligence
James Rodriguez, data reporter, Denver Business Journal
Daniel Salazar, staff writer, Austin Business Journal
Dave Sebastian, breaking news reporter, Wall Street Journal
Hannah Smoot, business reporter, Charlotte Observer
Adam Steinhauer, editor-in-chief, Sacramento Business Journal
Marianela Toledo, producer, CNN (CNN Dinero)
Corina Vanek, reporter, Phoenix Business Journal
Virginia Ward, data reporter, Kansas City Business Journal
Lilian Wu, producer, CNBC