Bloomberg, Citi launch chat service for exchange traders
Bloomberg L.P. Thursday unveiled a new chat service for foreign-exchange traders across various banks, developed in collaboration with Citigroup, reports William Launder of The Wall Street Journal. Launder writes, “The product is More »
Bloomberg News hires Boston Globe’s ME
Caleb Solomon will join Bloomberg News as an editor at large for Top News, beginning Monday, June 17, editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler announced Thursday. Solomon joins Bloomberg News from The Boston Globe, where More »
How business news fits in at BuzzFeed
Laura Shin of SmartPlanet.com writes about how business news will fit into BuzzFeed’s operation. Shin writes, “Section editor, Peter Lauria, who was hired from Reuters and spent five years at the New More »
Bloomberg econ reporter to become the Perfect Anecdote
Alex Kowalski, an economics reporter for Bloomberg News in Washington, is leaving the wire service for graduate school in urban planning at Cal-Berkeley. “I will focus on housing, community and economic development, More »
WSJ names editor for institutional news and data
Wall Street Journal managing editor Gerard Baker sent out the following staff promotion on Wednesday: I’m delighted to announce that Dave Pettit is appointed Editor, Institutional News and Data. In this newly More »
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.
Most biz magazines post decline in ad revenue, ad pages
by Chris Roush
Most of the large business magazines posted a decline in advertising revenue during the first three months of the year, while the overall magazine industry had a small increase in ad money.
Leading the decline was Bloomberg Businessweek, which had a 30.2 percent drop in ad revenue to $35.4 million, according to data released by Publishers Information Bureau. Its ad pages dropped 32.6 percent during the same time period to 228.52 pages.
Covering the budget proposal
by Liz Hester
President Obama unveiled Wednesday his $3.78 trillion budget proposal, which is destined to be picked over and debated. Let’s take a look at the initial coverage of the proposal.
Here’s the story from the Wall Street Journal:
Covering a new CEO at J.C. Penney
by Liz Hester
The news that J.C. Penney replaced CEO Ron Johnson, who tried to remake the retailer into a one-price clothing store, means that activist investors won. And it also means the company is returning to the leadership of former CEO Myron Ullman.
The coverage was mostly complimentary. Here’s the New York Times basic take on the news:
Covering China and business
by Liz Hester
The coverage of China by the business press continues to be wide-ranging and extensive, which is as it should be given its increasingly important role in the global economy.
I was reminded Monday by several different stories about how the People’s Republic is all over the map in terms of its business environment.
Frankie Flack: Running away from Mr. Draper
by Frankie Flack
The return of “Mad Men” last night spurred my thinking about the history of public relations.
As I watched the show, and the continuing growth of the fictional agency Sterling Cooper Draper Price, it occurred to me how the public relations industry back then was so young and that the power of PR was still years and years away from being truly understood. While the number of workers in the advertising industry was large and growing, those practicing public relations constituted a small fraction of what it is today.
Biz media assess whether stocks will continue to rise
by Liz Hester
This week could be a big one for the markets given all the expected news. Could all that mean it’s the end run for stocks?
Here’s the story from the Wall Street Journal:
Good and bad in business journalism, says Cramer
by Chris Roush
There are some good and bad areas of business journalism, said CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer, and also some areas that could use improvement.
“Business journalism is now everywhere, and just a keystroke away, as it should be,” said Cramer, who was the dinner speaker at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers annual conference on Saturday night.
Corzine blames in report on MF Global failure
by Liz Hester
I’ll bet Jon Corzine wishes he never said yes to the top job at MF Global. After a pretty good run at Goldman Sachs and as governor of New Jersey, he could have written a book, milked the speaker circuit, or simply enjoyed his millions. But no, he had to run another company, but this time, he didn’t do such a good job.
Here’s the story from the Wall Street Journal:
SEC offers social media guidelines
by Liz Hester
Business reporters have long had to monitor Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to stay atop of the news on the companies and executives they cover. Now the Securities and Exchange Commission is weighing in on the practice, offering some clarity for CEOs as well as reporters.
Here are some of the details from the Wall Street Journal:
Why analyzing labor coverage is important
by Christopher Martin
The Newspaper Guild/Communication Workers of America released Tuesday a summary report of their new “Labor & Unions in National TV Network News.”
The CWA and Newspaper Guild funded the study directed by Federico Subervi of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Texas State University.
Bloomberg vs. Wal-Mart
by Liz Hester
Bloomberg’s recent coverage of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and its problems with keeping stock on the shelves has the retail giant on the defensive. But Wal-Mart customers aren’t buying the company’s denials that there are problems.
Bloomberg reporter Renee Dudley received more than 1,000 responses to her March 26 story.
Tesla posts first profitable quarter
by Liz Hester
Tesla, maker of the coolest car you rarely see on the road, posted its first profitable quarter sending the stock up and giving hope that electric cars are a viable alternative to gas.
Well, they’re an alternative if you have $70,000 to spend on a luxury car.
Looking into OSHA
by Liz Hester
The New York Times’ Ian Urbina wrote an incredible story covering worker safety, unenforced regulations and the role of the government agency tasked with overseeing the nearly 8 million work sites in the U.S.
The story, which details problems in a North Carolina cushion-making factory, shows how chronic under enforcement of safety rules can harm many of those who can least afford a health crisis.
RIM returns to a profit on new Blackberry sales
by Liz Hester
Covering new technology and the companies behind them is one of the better parts of being a business reporter. Who doesn’t want to go to the conferences where Apple, Samsung, or Nokia show us the latest gadget that we simply can’t do without and will make our lives so much better?
One of the better earnings stories is that of Blackberry maker Research in Motion. It has been struggling to make a profit as customers and business clients turned to smart phones from other makers, upending its long-time hold on the market.
UK banks need more money
by Liz Hester
Banks in the United Kingdom need more capital, even after new regulations created during the financial crisis.
Here’s the Wall Street Journal story:
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.