Why biz journalism matters

Financial Times editor Lionel Barber spoke to the British Academy on Wednesday night about why journalism matters, and some of his comments centered specifically on business journalism.

Here are the salient parts for business journalists:

“These are the best of times and the worst of times if you happen to be a journalist, especially if you are a business journalist.  The best, because our profession has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to report, analyse and comment on the most serious financial crisis since the Great Crash of 1929.  The worst of times, because the news business is suffering from the cyclical shock of a deep recession and the structural change driven by the internet revolution.”

Later in the speech:

“The third function of journalism is to provide analysis, to explain a complicated event or process in a comprehensible narrative.  Without wishing to turn this lecture into an advertisement for the Financial Times, I must say that we at the FT have long prided ourselves on the analytical form — and the global financial crisis has given us a great showcase for our journalism. Â

“The financial crisis started as a highly technical story which went mainstream.  It required a sophisticated understanding of the credit markets and the risks inherent in financial leverage, the use of debt to supplement investment.  Thanks to path-breaking reporting by Gillian Tett, our capital markets editor, the FT held first-mover advantage on the story.  We also benefited from our global network of correspondents, able to report and analyse events as they unfolded. These ranged from the fall of the oligarchs in Russia, the unprecedented monetary interventions by the Fed, Bank of England and European Central Bank, the bail-out of Dubai in the Gulf, and the precipitous decline in economic growth in China.  The point to bear in mind, of course, is that analytical reporting, particularly on a global story, costs serious money.”

Read the entire speech here.