Monthly Archives: June 2009
ACBJ puts Book of Lists online
by
Charlotte-based American City Business Journals Inc., the parent company of 40 business weeklies across the country, has put one of its biggest money makers, the Book of Lists, on the Web.
In addition to the content featured in the print version, the interactive Book of Lists provides the most currently available address, executive contact information, company description, recent news and press releases, along with supplemental information and links to other sources
The interactive Book of Lists, which costs $399 per year for one market and $199 for each additional market, has company profiles across dozens of industries in each local market; customized alerts on changes at companies that could be competitors or prospects; and the ability to export contacts into platforms such as Outlook and Salesforce.
“This product revolutionizes the way companies can keep tabs on their competitive marketplaces,” says Tim Bradbury, president of ACBJ New Media, in a statement. “Business owners and executives have long relied on the Book of Lists to know who’s who and what’s what in their respective cities. Now, it’s like getting an updated Book of Lists every day, plus a whole lot more.”
Read more here.
Redesigning the biz news site
by
Allen Wastler, the managing editor of CNBC.com, writes Tuesday about the difficulties in redesigning a business news Web site.
Wastler writes, “Don’t forget your BizDev (business development) crew. They are the dealmakers … and those deals can end up being pretty important for a site’s operations. They’ll want those deals featured prominently as well. That helps them make more deals.
“So there’s a lot of jockeying going on. All business-news web sites go through it from time to time. In the end you hope the result is what’s right for the reader.
“What I find interesting is that as we all go through our respective redesigns, we seem to be edging nearer to one another in presentation … a sort of three-column, middle feature center, bottom buckets kind of approach. So either we’re all stealing ideas from one another or the jockeying is taking us all to the same place.”
Read more here.
BusinessWeek writer wins top real estate writing award
by
Mara Der Hovanesian of Business Week has won the Robert F. Brennan Award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors for the best overall entry in its annual reporting contest.
The judges said Der Hovanesian’s entry “managed to uncover and get people to talk about the sleazy underbelly of the mortgage business. People obviously open up to her, and her article shows it. Her article serves as a model for traditional investigative reporting.” It also won in the magazine category.
The best freelance award went to Sharon Stangenes, whose work appears in the Chicago Tribune, while the best residential real estate report in a daily newspaper went to Jennifer Hiller of the San Antonio Express-News.
Eric Pryne of the Seattle Times won the best commercial real estate report award.
Other winners include Charlotte Sutton of the St. Petersburg Times for best home design feature, Amy Jeter for best report or feature in a daily with less than 250,000 circulation, and Jonathan O’Connell of the Washington Business Journal for best report or feature in a weekly business paper.
See all of the winners here.
Former Financial Week staffers behind new CFOZone.com
by
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
Three former editorial staff members of the defunct Crain’s publication Financial Week are prepping to launch a new site called CFOZone.com next month that hopes to combine professional social networking with editorial content.
Ronald Fink, the editor of CFOZone.com and former executive editor of Financial Week, told Talking Biz News Tuesday that he hopes the new site will go live in two weeks.
“The way I’m looking at it, it’s kind of a cross between Financial Week and CIOZone,” said Fink. “It’s news, analysis, commentary, community and tools for CFOs and other corporate finance leaders.”
The other two former Financial Week staff members involved in the launch are managing editor John Goff, who was the Web editor at Financial Week, and senior editor Matthew Quinn, who was assistant managing editor at Financial Week. Crain Communication closed the print version of Financial Week in December and the online version in March.
CFOZone.com will be a sister site to CIOZone.com, which was launched 18 months ago. The parent company is PSN Inc.
“Financial Week was more of a news site,” said Fink, also the former deputy editor of CFO Magazine. “Here, the vision is to create a professional social network in this space.”
The site, however, will have a Reuters news feed, and an editorial staff that will produce original news and analysis. CFOZone.com plans to use freelancers as well, said Fink.
The site wants to attract CFOs, treasurers, accountants, controllers and others involved in company finance as members, getting them to post blogs, comments and forum threads on topics that are dearest to their hearts.
“The emphasis is on generating a lot of repeat visits among a select audience as opposed to getting millions of visitors,” said Fink. He added that there are CIOZone.com advertisers who are interested in the new site.
“It’s like a new lease of life. We were very into FinancialWeek.com. We were knocked for a loop when they pulled the plug, not that it was a complete surprise. It wasn’t given a long enough leash. We’re ecstatic to have this opportunity.”
Reach Fink at rfink@cfozone.com. Goff is at jgoff@cfozone.com, while Quinn is at mquinn@cfozone.com.
Working the stock market beat
by
Cara Buckley of the New York Times interviews Matt Egan, who covers the stock market for Fox Business Network, about his job.
Here is an excerpt:
Landing at Fox: Ray Hennessey, the director of business news, went to my college, and also wrote for The Trenton Times. I kind of went to the interview not interested in business or TV, but I figured I’d give it a shot. And the interview was amazing. I was one of the first hires for the Web team.
Early challenges: Getting beyond the businessy terms: derivatives. Mutual funds. Futures. Options contracts. I had no idea about the stock market. I wish I had taken business classes. I bought a business textbook ahead of time. I read that, and started reading The Wall Street Journal every day. We had a month and a half to prep.
How caffeinated do you get? I don’t drink coffee. I think I’m the only one on the Web team.
Daily tasks: I cover the stock market; it’s my primary responsibility. I recap why the market is up or, mostly, why it’s down.
Read more here.
NYT, WSJ, Bloomberg News, Charlotte Observer among Loeb winners
by
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer were among the winners of the annual Gerald Loeb Awards, considered the Pulitzer Prizes of business journalism.
In the large newspaper category, The Times won for a series called “The Reckoning,” which explored the causes behind the current financial crisis.
In the medium and small newspaper category, the Miami Herald won for “Borrowers Betrayed,” which uncovered that Florida has licensed more than 1,000 convicted felons as mortgage brokers and has allowed 2,000 felons to work as unlicensed loan originators.
David Leonhardt of the New York Times magazine won in the magazine category for “Obamaonomics.”
Brian Carney of The Journal won in the commentary category for a series of columns about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Journal also won in the breaking news category for “The Day that Changed Wall Street.”
The Charlotte Observer’s Rick Rothacker won in the beat reporting category for his coverage of Wachovia Corp. Also winning in the beat reporting category was Gretchen Morgenson of the Times for her Wall Street coverage.
MSN Money won in the online category for “Middle Class Crunch,” while William Selway and Martin Z. Braun from Bloomberg News won in the news service category.
Michael Lewis of the now-defunct Conde Nast Portfolio won in the feature writing category for “The End,” a look at changes on Wall Street.
“60 Minutes” won both of the television categories, with its breaking news piece “Economic Crisis: House of Cards,” on the subprime mortgage crisis, and enterprise segment “The Wasteland,” about the toxic remains of recycled electronics.
Charles R. Morris of Public Affairs won in the business book category for “Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash.â€
The awards were given at a dinner in New York on Monday night.
Roehm profile in Fast Company shows male/female bias
by
Jim Edwards, the former managing editor of Adweek, finds little to like in the Fast Company profile of Julie Roehm, the former head of advertising at Wal-Mart now struggling to find a job.
Edwards writes, “Don’t get me wrong. I read the story right through to the end. There’s something eminently readable about the Roehm train wreck. She’s had to sell her house in Michigan to continue living in much cheaper Bentonville, Ark., even though she obviously hates it, since she left Walmart.
 ”But its publication says more about the business media than it does about the world of advertising. Specifically, that female reporters often harbor the belief that Roehm got the short end of the stick (would a male ad chief who exchanged steamy emails with an underling have been pilloried so thoroughly?); and that male editors like to have a good looking blonde who admits to a sex life in the mag.
“As usual in the Roehm profile ritual, we get something old and something new. The old bit is a rehash of how Roehm, while at Chrysler, commissioned ‘the Lingerie Bowl, a pay-per-view Super Bowl halftime show featuring supermodels playing football in their panties,’ and other Chrysler ads involving urinals and wife swapping.”
Read more here.Â
Biz publications winners named
by
Sean Callahan of BtoB Magazine has some of the winners in the annual Alliance of Area Business Publications contest.
Callahan writes, “The best magazine award went to Twin Cities Business. The Los Angeles Business Journal was named best large tabloid newspaper. The best small tabloid newspaper award went to Central Penn Business Journal.
“Crain’s Cleveland Business received the award for best newspaper front page. The best Web site award went to Crain’s Chicago Business. Crain’s New York Business was honored for best daily e-mail. All three Crain titles are published by Crain Communications Inc., which also publishes BtoB.
“The best industry specific e-newsletter award went to The Daily Transcript.”
Read more here.
Loeb Award picks for tonight
by
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
The Gerald Loeb Awards, considered the Pulitzer Prizes of business journalism, are being handed out at a dinner in New York on Monday night.
Here are my selections. I am basing them on what I have read in the past year, as well as the reputation of the journalists and publications involved. See all of the finalists here and tell me where you think I made the wrong selection.
Large Newspaper Category
Gretchen Morgenson, Peter S. Goodman, Charles Duhigg, Carter Dougherty, Eric Dash, Julie Creswell, Jo Becker, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Stephen Labaton for “The Reckoning” in The New York Times. I have changed my vote here, although I still like the Washington Post entry on AIG very much.
Medium and Small Newspaper Category
Ames Alexander, Franco Ordoñez, Kerry Hall and Ted Mellnik for “The Cruelest Cuts†in The Charlotte Observer. A hometown pick, I admit, but a great inside look at the poultry industry and the injuries that result. The Miami Herald series on the scum in the Florida real estate market is also strong.
Magazines Category
Michael Lewis for “The End†in Condé Nast Portfolio. One of the best writers today taking on the dramatic changes on Wall Street.
Commentary Category
Brian M. Carney for “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac†in The Wall Street Journal.
Breaking News Category
Robin Sidel, Dennis K. Berman, Kate Kelly, Carrick Mollenkamp, Mark Whitehouse, Serena Ng, Randall Smith and E. S. Browning for “Collapse of Bear Stearns†in The Wall Street Journal. Great inside detail in the reporting.
Beat Writing Category
Rick Rothacker for “The Fall of Wachovia” in The Charlotte Observer. Going with the hometown pick again, but no one has covered this story better than Rothacker.
News Services Category
William Selway and Martin Z. Braun for “Broken Promises” for Bloomberg News.
Feature Writing Category
Kate Kelly for “The Fall of Bear Stearns†in The Wall Street Journal. The book she wrote about Bear Stearns was even better.
Online Category
Gretchen Morgenson, Louise Story, Tara Siegel Bernard and Jenny Anderson for “The Debt Trap†for The New York Times.
Television Breaking News Category
Steve Kroft and L. Franklin Devine for “Economic Crisis: House of Cards†on CBS News/60 Minutes. I am a big fan of 60 Minutes.
Television Enterprise Category
Steve Kroft and Andy Court for “The Price of Bananas†on CBS News/60 Minutes.
Business Book Category
Niall Ferguson for “The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World†published by The Penguin Press. Changed my vote here at the last minute.Â
Personal finance column appears in papers under different bylines
by
Joe Strupp of Editor & Publisher reports that the same personal finance column has appeared in papers across the country — under different bylines.
“For example, the column is found in the East Valley Tribune of Mesa, Ariz., on June 19. Titled, ‘Don’t let economy threaten retirement plans,’ it carries the byline of Rebecca Warren. She is identified as a financial planner for Warren Financial Services.
“The column, also ran in The Huntsville (Texas) Item on June 25, is almost identical, word for word, to the first. It carries the byline of Brian Smith as an Item correspondent. Publisher Dennis Garrison confirmed to E&P that Smith is a financial adviser for the local office of Global Financial Partners and writes a regular column for the paper, but does not receive a fee.
“The two pieces are so close that Google News treats them as ‘duplicates.’”
Read more here.