Stories by Chris Roush
Marketplace Morning Report host leaving for new show
by Chris Roush
Jeremy Hobson, the host of “Marketplace Morning Report” on public radio each weekday morning, is leaving the show to become host of another public radio show called “Here and Now.”
Hobson started at Marketplace in 2007 as a reporter based in Washington, D.C. He later covered Wall Street and its impact on ordinary Americans for Marketplace, based in the New York City bureau. He started reporting from New York one week before Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.
Before joining Marketplace, Hobson frequently found himself in the right place at the right time when it came to big stories: He was calling Florida precincts for NPR’s 2000 election coverage, he was working for Boston’s WBUR during the Boston Catholic Church Sex Abuse scandal, and he was an intern for NPR’s Guy Raz in Turkey at the start of the Iraq War. In addition to those roles, Hobson has worked as producer for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Day to Day” and “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” He has also worked as a host and reporter for public radio stations WILL Urbana, WCAI Cape Cod and WRNI Providence.
Hobson’s radio career began in earnest at the age of nine when he started contributing to a program called Treehouse Radio. Hobson is a graduate of Boston University and the University of Illinois Laboratory High School.
Here is Brian Stelter‘s coverage in the New York Times of the public radio moves.
TCU creates business journalism certificate
by Chris Roush
The Texas Christian University Schieffer School of Journalism has created a business journalism certificate program for students beginning in fall 2013.
The driving factors for creating the certificates were the availability of jobs in the areas and the need for subject-based certificates, in addition to certificates based on media platforms, John Lumpkin, director of the Schieffer School of Journalism, said.
The emphasis in subject changed the way the certificates are earned. Instead of only journalism courses, the certificates will require classes outside of the Schieffer School.
For the business certificate, requirements will include six hours outside of the Schieffer School, with options from business, economic and political science classes.
Just as the market has been changing to accommodate more sports journalists, the market is embracing more business journalists, Dr. Melita Garza, the lead professor for the business journalism proposal, said.
The business journalism certificate was an outgrowth of grants from the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. The original grant provided for a visiting business journalism professor for one semester. The visiting professor, Karen Blumenthal, author and former bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, developed the first two business news courses in 2012.
Read more here.
Missing the story of how regulations enrich companies
by Chris Roush
Pulitzer Prize-winning business journalist David Cay Johnston writes for American Journalism Review about how business reporters are missing the story about how new regulations are enriching companies at the cost of consumers.
Johnston writes, “The costs of these new rules are enormous. Take that railroad industry rule on monopoly pricing. It costs the people of Lafayette, Louisiana, $6.5 million more than if they paid competitive shipping prices for coal brought from Wyoming to their municipal electricity plant. Eliminating the monopoly overcharge would be the equivalent of a 10 percent cut in property taxes.
“In my book ‘Free Lunch,’ I explained how rules for new electricity markets actually tend to raise prices to levels almost as high as what an unregulated monopoly could charge. Those rules, not coincidentally, were written by Enron.
“The six untold or little-told stories cited at the beginning of this article are just examples of a multitude of pocketbook stories missed by reporters in our state capitals and Washington, on Main Street and on Wall Street, especially in the business section. We should be pursuing such stories with vigor.
“These changes get missed or misreported in part because, in the framing of the great newspaper editor Gene Roberts, instead of emerging in an official announcement, they ‘ooze.’
“Part of the problem is that far fewer reporters are covering important departments and agencies in Washington, D.C., as well as the 50 state capitals, according to detailed surveys by AJR.”
Read more here.
Colorado biz journal names new editor
by Chris Roush
Jerd Smith has been named editor of the North Colorado Business Report, reports Steve Lynn of the paper.
Lynn writes, “Smith has worked as a business editor and reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, Denver Business Journal and Boulder Daily Camera.
“Smith is excited to lead coverage of Northern Colorado business news at a time when traditional media no longer have the resources to provide comprehensive business coverage as well as a niche publication like NCBR, she said.
“‘Business publications have a huge role to play in keeping the community informed,’ she said.
“At the Rocky Mountain News, Smith covered a variety of issues, including finance, energy, technology, telecommunications, water and government. She has won awards for breaking news and investigative journalism from organizations such as the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists.”
Read more here.
SABEW to hold 2014 conference in Phoenix
by Chris Roush
The Society of American Business Editors and Writers, which is holding its 50th anniversary conference next week in Washington, D.C., will meet in 2014 in Phoenix.
The 2014 conference will be held in April, but the dates have yet to be finalized, said executive director Warren Watson.
SABEW held its 2010 conference at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University in downtown Phoenix. It is also the location of SABEW’s headquarters.
“We had a positive experience in Phoenix in 2010, so we will be returning in 2014,” said Watson. “ We’re based here as an organization, so that will help us a lot.”
Marty Wolk, current secretary, has been asked to be the conference content coordinator.
For the 2015 conference, the intention is to discuss a few options back in the East, said Watson, but nothing is really formed at this point. No formal proposals have been made yet for the year 2015.
The WSJ app for reporters shooting video with phones
by Chris Roush
Caroline O’Donovan of The Nieman Journalism Lab writes Thursday about a proprietary application developed for Wall Street Journal reporters that allows them to shoot videos for the business newspaper’s website using their phones.
O’Donovan writes, “The Wall Street Journal approached Downing with the idea for a proprietary app that reporters could use as a news gathering tool. With the addition of some analytics tools and a centralized management function that allows editors to quickly vet clips before they’re published, that became WorldStream, which we wrote about in August.
“‘Consumer behavior has become much more accustomed to consuming the news they want as it happens,’ says Downing. ‘The WSJ was trying to be much more in line with real-time news and real-time publishing.’
“More than half a year later, how’s WorldStream working out? The Journal seems pretty happy. On the business side, WorldStream point man and WSJ deputy editor of video Mark Scheffler describes the project as a ‘destination but also a clearinghouse.’ While all of the WSJ’s mobile videos are first published to the feed, many go on to live second lives across a wide variety of platforms. Some clips follow reporters to live broadcast appearances, while others are embedded into article pages and blogs. Andy Regal, the Journal’s head of video production, said that they don’t break out WorldStream views from the newspaper’s overall video numbers, which he said total between 30 and 35 million streams per month.
“That kind of traffic across platforms draws the attention of advertisers. The WSJ says video ads generate ‘premium’ rates, meaning somewhere around $40 to $60 CPM. Says Tim Ware, WSJ director of mobile sales, of the Journal’s broader video strategy: ‘We’re very bullish on the growth of WSJ Live this fiscal year, and thus the growth in video ad revenue. We’re also starting to contemplate some one-off sponsorships within our overarching video coverage of select events and stories.’ (After spending about a total of about an hour on WorldStream, however, I only saw one ad — for a ‘smart document solutions’ company — repeated about a half dozen times.)”
Read more here.
Xconomy expands into Denver/Boulder market
by Chris Roush
Xconomy.com, a website that covers technology and innovation in major cities around the country, has opened a bureau in Denver to cover the Colorado market.
Founder Robert Buderi writes, “I am also extremely pleased to introduce the editor of Xconomy Boulder/Denver, Michael Davidson. Mike is already well known to the region’s innovation community: he comes to us from the Boulder County Business Report, where he has carved out a name for himself as a leading voice covering innovation and technology. We think he is a rising star and we are extremely happy to have him head up our coverage from Day One. He will have help from some local freelancers and, of course, other editors around the Xconomy network.
“You will find Mike’s own welcome story immediately following this — as well as his first news analysis post — about how the rapidly growing Denver startup scene is seizing on the template created in Boulder to create a startup- and collaboration-rich enviornment.
“A lot about Xconomy Boulder/Denver is unique. For one thing, it is the first of our cluster sites not in the Eastern or Pacific time zone. Innovation, after all, doesn’t happen only on the coasts. Therefore, we think it is important to build a network that reflects the pervasiveness of the innovation and entrepreneurial movement sweeping the country. (Stay tuned in the next few weeks for another announcement along these lines.) By including new regions like Boulder/Denver in that network — and by being on the ground with thoughtful, in-depth daily reporting on startups, venture capital, and innovation at larger companies in tech, life sciences, energy, and more — we seek to bring what is happening in those communities into a broader national conversation. That, we think, is especially important, because all too often national press tend to focus on what is happening on the coasts, especially in Silicon Valley—thereby missing great work being done in other parts of the country.”
Read more here.
Buzzfeed hires business reporter from Bloomberg
by Chris Roush
Sapna Maheshwari, a retail reporter for Bloomberg News, has been hired by Buzzfeed, which is getting ready to launch a business news operation.
Buzzfeed hired Peter Lauria of Reuters last month to be its business editor.
In a goodbye message to her Bloomberg colleagues, Maheshwari wrote:
It was a tough decision because I was genuinely happy on the consumer team at Bloomberg (Miami! VS Fashion Show! Sheer yoga pants!) But I was extremely attracted to the opportunity to help create a new platform for business journalism, write content that will reach more viewers + consumers (especially those under 35) and, I hope, make a real impact. My new editor, Peter Lauria, was another selling point. Now seems like the best time in my life to take this kind of a risk, and BuzzFeed’s culture really appeals to me, as does its business model. And its love of animals, obviously.
I have been so fortunate to start my career at Bloomberg and work with and socialize with such extraordinary people. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you guys over the years and I will miss you when I’m gone! Thank you for being awesome, sharing so much knowledge and always being available for a laugh.
Maheshwari has been at Bloomberg since 2009, and she has covered a variety of beats, including currencies, Treasuries, stocks and insurance companies during her first year as a rotating reporter.
She covered corporate credit for nearly two years, writing about company bonds, credit-default swaps and new financing. She was a specialty retail reporter, covering J.C. Penney, Gap, Urban Outfitters, J. Crew, Limited Brands (Victoria’s Secret), American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, TJX, Ross, Lululemon, Williams-Sonoma, Talbots and more.
She is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. While in college, she interned at the Hartford Courant, the Chapel Hill News and the China Internet Information Center.
Roanoke paper looking for biz reporter
by Chris Roush
Stephanie Ogilvie of the Roanoke Times in southwest Virginia has posted the following on its website:
The Roanoke Times | roanoke.com seeks a savvy reporter to cover western Virginia’s growing technology community and other regional business stories.
We want a reporter to write about nationally recognized companies and small startups born out of research at Virginia Tech, home to one of the nation’s top engineering programs. We’re looking for a tech geek jazzed about innovation, but who also understands venture capitalism and government funding.
We value reporters who thrive on change, experimentation and a journalistic mission to serve the community. This position is based in our New River Valley office, 10 minutes from Virginia Tech, and the reporter also will cover real estate, tourism and other business stories throughout the region.
More recent job openings include a part-time obituary consultant and a community journalist to cover Salem.
Find all of our job openings — and learn how to apply — on the Roanoke Times career page.
Two biz journalists named to NC Journalism Hall of Fame
by Chris Roush
Two famous business journalists — one for helping blaze a trail for women — have been named to the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame.
Wyndham Robertson is the former assistant managing editor of Fortune magazine and former business editor of Time magazine.
After graduating from Hollins College with an economics degree, Robertson worked as a junior analyst in the Economics Department of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey before joining Fortune as a researcher and reporter in 1961.
She was elected to Fortune’s board of editors in 1974 and was named assistant managing editor in 1981. She served as business editor of Time magazine from 1982-83 as part of an experimental program in which six Time Inc. editors temporarily switched magazines.
Her work has been honored with awards that include the Gerald M. Loeb Achievement Award for Distinguished Writing on Investment, Finance and Business and the American Journalism Historians Association Award for Breaking Gender Barriers in Journalism and Communication, among others.
Alan Murray, a journalism inductee, is the president of the Pew Research Center. He leads in setting the strategic direction of Pew Research, in consultation with Pew Research leadership, its board and The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Murray was previously deputy managing editor and executive editor, online, for The Wall Street Journal.
He previously served as CNBC’s Washington, D.C., bureau chief and was co-host of “Capital Report with Alan Murray and Gloria Borger.”
While working at CNBC, he wrote the Journal’s weekly “Political Capital” column. Prior to that, he spent a decade as the Washington bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal.
Murray received a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics.
See all of the inductees here.
