Dallas paper hires consumer watchdog columnist
Dave Lieber, the consumer watchdog columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram who was laid off after 20 years at the paper in January, has been hired by the Dallas Morning News. Lieber’s inaugural More »
ACBJ invests in Newsle
American City Business Journals, the Charlotte-based owner of 40 weekly business newspapers, is the lead investor in a round of investing into Newsle, which lets users find published articles that mention their More »
Great reporters leading the way at Forbes
Lewis Dvorkin, the chief product officer at Forbes, writes about some of the magazine’s top reporters who are making a name for themselves. Here are two: Kashmir Hill: Only a few years More »
Glancey named WSJ editor to oversee training
Jim Pensiero, editor of talent at The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following staff announcement on Monday: I’m pleased to announce that Christine Glancey will be the Journal’s editor, training — More »
WSJ names Nixon its chief Euro commentator
Thorold Barker, the Wall Street Journal editor who oversees coverage of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, sent out the following staff promotion on Monday: I am delighted to announce that Simon More »
Slight shift in Federal Reserve policy
by Liz Hester
The closely watched Federal Reserve meeting this week had some investors and journalists looking for changes to the bond-buying plans that have been in effect for much of the past year. And they got it with the Fed signaling that it might increase the purchases if necessary, a shift from previous statement they would remain constant.
Here’s the story from the Wall Street Journal:
Piecing together economic news
by Liz Hester
This week is a big one for economic news with housing reports, the Federal Reserve meeting and confidence numbers in just the first two days. The national news outlooks chose to focus on different pieces of the equation. While there’s no easy way to pull it all together, let’s take a look at what we have so far.
The New York Times did an A1 piece Tuesday about expectations for Federal Reserve monetary policy given the nascent recovery in the economy, but not employment numbers:
Kodak turns over businesses to pension plan
by Liz Hester
In a move to settle a bankruptcy claim, Kodak has given two iconic business units to a U.K. pension plan.
Here are the basic details from the Bloomberg story:
Mathisen talks “Nightly Business Report”
by Chris Roush
Tyler Mathisen co-anchors CNBC‘s “Power Lunch” and is vice president for strategic editorial initiatives working closely with CNBC’s business development and marketing teams on strategic initiatives and alliances.
Mathisen also co-anchors “Nightly Business Report produced by CNBC,” an award-winning evening business news program for U.S. public television that CNBC acquired earlier this year.
The changing face of public relations
by Liz Hester
Fleishman-Hillard is rebranding and shifting the company’s strategy. First, they’re deleting the hyphen from the name (since that will be effective as a rebrand) and moving to offer other services like social media planning.
Here are excerpts from the New York Times story:
Why aren’t journalists allowed to ask questions on earnings calls?
by KBlessing
The quarterly earnings call is much more than a casual conversation among a company’s executives, analysts, investors and the media — it’s a carefully scripted dialogue that is practiced well in advance of a call.
The planning and preparation that goes into an earnings call allow little room for journalists to fire questions that may throw an executive off message or make them appear ignorant about a topic in front of a large audience that has the power to push a company’s stock price upward or send it plummeting.
Software glitch delays trading
by Liz Hester
Trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange was delayed for more than three hours Thursday due to a software glitch, once again highlighted the fragile nature of making money trading.
Here are some of the details from Bloomberg:
SEC may require companies to disclose political donations
by Liz Hester
There was an interesting story in the New York Times about the intersection of the business and political worlds. Several lawmakers are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to require companies to disclose political contributions, creating some transparency in the murky world of big donations.
Here are some of the details:
Trustee sues Corzine over MF Global collapse
by Liz Hester
Just weeks after entering settlement talks, the bankruptcy trustee for MF Global sued former CEO Jon Corzine for actions leading to the collapse of the brokerage.
Here’s the story from the New York Times:
Taking a closer look at the housing market
by Liz Hester
There were several pieces on Monday about the state of the housing market after sales of existing homes dropped slightly, according to the National Association of Realtors. One of my favorite parts about covering data that’s released every month is reading the lead anecdotes reporters find to illustrate the trends.
Here’s the lead from the Wall Street Journal story:
Koch brothers eye Tribune Co.
by Liz Hester
Koch Industries, controlled by billionaires Charles and David of the same name, is now looking to expand their reach to the media, something new for the conglomerate.
Here’s the story from the New York Times:
Stocks drop after earnings reports
by Liz Hester
Remember when the market was peaking? Well, it seems that all that optimism on corporate performance was misplaced. Several companies have reported earnings that missed analysts estimates, prompting investors to pair back exposure to stocks.
Let’s start with the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the market:
IMF warns on monetary policy
by Liz Hester
The International Monetary Fund issued a report warning to finance ministers cautioning against continued stimulus.
Here’s the story from the Financial Times:
I cover hedge funds, not skin cream
by Bill C. Smith
For public relations professionals, building strong relationships with reporters is the best way to collaborate on story ideas. However, PR pros are occasionally tasked with getting exposure in a completely new area, one in which they cannot rely on their current contact list.
In these situations, it is best to do a thorough background check instead of pitching a reporter with a blind email or call—and ruin the effectiveness of proper pitching techniques for the rest of us.
Housing poised for more gains?
by Liz Hester
There were a couple of stories out Tuesday about housing and its current state. While seeming unrelated, together they help readers make a prediction about which way the market will go.
The first story about new home starts comes from the Wall Street Journal:
Dish makes offer for Sprint
by Liz Hester
In a fun turn of events for technology reporters and Wall Street, Dish Network decided to put together a $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel, offering a competing bid to Japanese Softbank’s.
Here are some of the details from the New York Times:
Nike searching for advertising glory
by Liz Hester
The New York Times analyzed Nike’s recent fall from the top of the advertising file in an interesting story Sunday. After the misstep congratulating Tiger Woods on regaining golf’s top spot, Nike is searching for share of buzz.
Here’s the story:
Covering banking and regulations
by Liz Hester
There were two similar stories in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times on Thursday about the complexity of large financial firms and what they’re doing to simplify their structures.
The Journal story focused on the number of subsidiaries that many of the largest financial firms have and where they’re located.
Board members and business journalists
by Chris Roush
Two conversations I’ve had this week about board members of publicly traded companies have got me thinking about directors and business journalists.
The first conversation was with a student in my “Business Reporting” class.
Frankie Flack: In a crisis, focus on those affected, not the biz media
by Frankie Flack
Given the events of last week, it seems appropriate to spend some time discussing communications principles in the time of a crisis for a business.
There are a number of ways to define a crisis, and in fact, there are many divergent views on how best to handle a corporate crisis from a PR perspective.