Tag Archives: Personal finance coverage
Business media and managing your finances
by Chris Roush
Radio personality Kojo Nnamdi talks to Knight Kiplinger of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance about the future of business media and personal finance in an age of economic uncertainty.
Listen to their conversation here.
The demise of personal finance magazines? Not at Kiplinger’s
by Chris Roush
Knight A. Kiplinger, editor in chief, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, wonders why some people who “gladly pay $4 for a latte at Starbucks — sometimes every day — balk at paying even $1 for an issue of a useful magazine.”
Hal Morris, writing on his Grumpy editor blog about Kiplinger’s note in the October issue, notes that Kiplinger’s comments evoke a mournful tone about the future of personal finance magazines given the closing of SmartMoney’s print publication.
Morris writes “In his message, Kiplinger mentions, ‘our readers are among the most highly educated and affluent of all magazine readers. They tell market researchers that they really trust this magazine, and they spend a lot of time with each issue.’
“He adds that advertisers ‘don’t seem to acknowledge the print audience’ and ‘they are abandoning magazines at a steady pace, apparently believing that they can reach you more effectively on Web sites, including ours.’
“Kiplinger observes that out of a half dozen personal finance publications competing in the 1990s, only Money and Kiplinger’s continue to roll off presses.
“‘We’re gratified that our Web audience continues to grow, but we love the business of print publishing, and we’re committed to it,’ he concludes.”
Read more here.
Reuters, WSJ, Milwaukee and Detroit papers among Loeb winners
by Chris Roush
Felix Salmon of Reuters and The Wall Street Journal are winners of Gerald Loeb Awards, considered the Pulitzer Prizes of business journalism.
Salmon won in the blogging category. Reuters also won in the news service category for “Shell Games” by Brian Grow, Kelly Carr, Laurence Fletcher, Nanette Byrnes, Matthew Bigg, Joshua Schneyer, Cynthia Johnston and Sara Ledwith.
Mark Maremont, Tom McGinty, Jon Keegan, Palani Kumanan, Sarah Slobin and Neil King Jr. were the team at the Journal who won for “Jet Tracker” in the online enterprise category.
Walter Isaacson won in the book category for his Steve Jobs biography. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo received an honorable mention in the book category for “Poor Economics.”
Brent Snavely, Greg Gardner and Chrissie Thompson for “GM-UAW Contract Negotiations” in Detroit Free Press won in the breaking news category.
In medium and small newspapers, there were two winners: Raquel Rutledge, Rick Barrett, John Diedrich, Ben Poston and Mike de Sisti for “Shattered Trust” in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Spencer Soper and Scott Kraus for “Inside Amazon’s Warehouse” in The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.
The Journal Sentinel’s John Fauber won in the beat reporting category for “‘Side Effects’ Beat Reporting.“
Peter Elkind, Jennifer Reingold and Doris Burke won the Loeb in the magazine category for “Inside Pfizer’s Palace Coup” in Fortune.
Penelope Wang, Kim Clark and Lisa Gibbs won the Loeb in the personal finance category for “‘Protecting Your Parents’ Series“ in Money.
Zanny Minton Beddoes, Edward Carr, John Peet, Patrick Foulis and John O’Sullivan won the Loeb in the commentary category for “Euro Zone” in The Economist.
In the broadcast enterprise category, the winner is Laura Sydell and Alex Blumberg for “When Patents Attack,” a collaboration between NPR and This American Life.
“60 Minutes” won in the explanatory category, while Ken Bensinger for “Wheels of Fortune” in the Los Angeles Times won in the large newspaper category.
The awards are being handed out at a dinner in New York, and this prestigious award program recognizes and honors journalists who have made significant contributions to the understanding of business, finance and the economy.
Speaking to audiences that don’t grasp financial news
by Chris Roush
Teresa Novellino of the Upstart Business Journal writes about former CNBC anchor Nicole Lapin, who has started her own media company called Nothing But Gold providing personal finance content.
Novellino writes, “Her company added editorial and sales employees one by one and now has a team of 10 working remotely and attending meetings at her home office—a killer penthouse overlooking Union Square Park in Manhattan.
“This type of nimble media company is becoming an ally to old media, she says.
“‘What I’ve found since I jumped into this is that newsrooms are shrinking,’ Lapin says.
“‘A lot of big companies are outsourcing business sections, so we’re producing content for companies across the board, and I think that’s going to continue to grow, and that’s going to be a great opportunity for us to grow, especially the on-air component.’
“On each platform, Lapin tries to keep her message digestible but informative. She speaks to audiences who don’t necessarily grasp financial news. ‘I would go on Inside Edition to talk about the Facebook IPO, and they ask me, ‘What is an IPO?’’ she says.”
Read more here.
USA Today personal finance writer moves to Kiplinger’s
by Chris Roush
Sandra Block has left her position as a personal finance reporter and has started at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
She had been with USA Today since December 1995. She is now a senior associate editor at Kiplinger’s.
“I’m going to be covering a range of personal finance topics at Kiplinger’s,” said Block in an e-mail to Talking Biz News. “Since I covered the taxes for more than 10 years at USA TODAY, I’ll probably contribute to their tax coverage.
“I left USA TODAY because I was interested in trying something new!” she added. “I’ve never worked for a magazine and am looking forward to stepping away from daily coverage.”
Before USA Today, Block worked at the Akron Beacon Journal as a business reporter for nearly three years. She also worked for the Dow Jones Newswires for four years.
Block is a graduate of Bethany College and the Knight-Bagehot program at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
ICFJ offers online financial journalism course
by Chris Roush
The International Center for Journalists will offer two online courses in English and Spanish on covering marketing concepts such as how to plan for retirement, understanding your 401k, stock and bond markets, mutual funds and private and public companies, among others.
These courses will be available to U.S. journalists who report in minority communities.
The online courses will take place from July 2, 2012 through Aug. 27, 2012. Participants selected will be asked to give a project proposal that they will work on developing through the length of the course. As well, a project mentoring period to help participants finalize their projects will take place from Aug. 27, 2012 until Oct. 8, 2012.
The courses will be open to Spanish-speaking and English-speaking journalists from ethnic media. Participants will be trained to effectively cover consumer and marketing finance issues including topics ranging from credit and lending, housing and mortgages to retirement planning and investing.
The Spanish course is led by Xavier Serbia, the editor-in-chief and founder of Xavierserbia.com. Serbia is a personal finance syndicated columnist and has written for various Hispanic media outlets.
The English course is led by Chris Roush, who teaches business and economics reporting at the University of North Carolina and has written six books, including two about business journalism.
The courses will be divided into three parts:
- an eight-week online training on financial markets and consumer business
- a six-week online mentoring period, during which participants produced stories to publish them in the media
- a three-day field trip to New York City, where three selected participants will have the opportunity to interview with notable financial experts.
At the end of the online courses, three participants will receive a McGraw-Hill Personal Finance Award and cash prizes of $2,000, $1,000 and $500.
For more information, please contact Pablo Munoz at pmunoz@icfj.org.
CNBC’s Orman unfazed by criticism
by Chris Roush
Marketwatch.com media columnist Jon Friedman writes Friday that CNBC personal finance guru Suze Orman isn’t bothered by criticism levied at her for rolling out her own debit card.
Friedman writes, “For instance, personal-finance writer Kathy Kristof wrote on CBS MoneyWatch: ‘The only reason the card is worth talking about is because Suze is the queen of hype, so high-profile and vehement about her financial advice that she’s inspired a series of ‘Saturday Night Live’ spoofs.’
“Orman was blasted in blogs, tweets and columns throughout the media landscape. But she didn’t let the critics crush her spirit.
“‘This is their 15 minutes of fame,’ Orman shrugged when we spoke last week. ‘It doesn’t matter what they say.’
“‘I can look in the mirror and know I have done nothing but help people. They can criticize me all they want.’”
Read more here.
Covering the business of debt via blogging
by Chris Roush
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
Steve Rhode is using his personal finance experiences to cover the debt industry like no one else.
Rhode, 52, started GetoutofDebt.org in 2009, a blog that aggressively reports and investigates debt consolidation and debt advice businesses. From his home in the Raleigh area, he posts about five stories a day as well as answers questions from readers.
His site, which averages about 160,000 visitors and 320,000 page views per month, relies heavily on his experience from a personal bankruptcy more than 20 years ago and from running a non-profit organization called Myvesta that helped people with financial problems.
Rhode, who once wrote a personal finance column that was syndicated in more than 50 papers, says his site has no agenda or vendetta against the debt industry. He just wants consumers to have fair and balanced information.
“I write about something that I care deeply about and know well,” said Rhode in an interview Thursday. “It has to be something that you enjoy doing.”
Rhode sifts through dozens of tips each day to determine what he wants to cover. He collects legal documents from attorneys and through PACER, the online federal court system, and develops sources within companies. He also talks frequently to regulators across the country, primarily those in state attorney general offices.
At first, Rhode also sold advertising for his site, but he handed over that responsibility to Google Ads. While some readers complain that the companies advertising on his site are from the industry that he covers, Rhode says he now uses the ads as story ideas.
“The toughest thing is trying to find that balance,” said Rhode. “You’re serving the public and protecting consumers, but you also have to make an existence.”
His biggest current issue is litigation. A Texas attorney that was the subject of a story has sued him for $2.1 million in damages, claiming that Rhode has hurt his business. Rhode is defending himself aggressively.
“I developed a thick skin a long time ago,” said Rhode. “When you write about bad things, you have to know you can be the subject of an attack.”
Rhode appears frequently in other media — he has done Skype interviews this week with the Fox station in Tampa and a station in St. Louis — to discuss debt scams and issues. And unlike traditional journalists, he’s not afraid of alerting regulators to potential scams that he has uncovered.
Rhode declined to discuss his site’s finances, but he did say that he is making a living off the site, and he has one employee who helps him sift through tips and documents. But his site primarily focuses on the problems in personal finance, not balancing a checkbook and other softer personal finance topics.
For example, a recent story on the site uncovered a mortgage modifier company that was claiming in its solicitations to be from a local teachers union. Rhode also recently reported about a debt reduction program that claimed it was from Houston, but was actually located in Fiji with its owner in Thailand and had not registered to do business.
“My entire business philosophy,” says Rhode, “is that if you do a good job, then good things will happen to you.”
Is Suze Orman leaving CNBC?
by Chris Roush
Jon Friedman of Marketwatch.com has interviewed CNBC personal finance expert Suze Orman and talked with her about her future career plans.
Friedman writes, “When envisioning her future activities, Orman said: ‘I wouldn’t be doing my CNBC show.’
“Before the tabloids start to concoct any false reports of a feud, though, Orman stressed there are no hard feelings whatsoever between her and the business-television network.
”I love CNBC and my show, and I hope they feel the same,’ she said.
“‘We do not comment on contract status other than to confirm that Suze has a contract with CNBC,’ Brian Steel, a CNBC spokesman, said in an email on Thursday. CNBC is owned by Comcast Corp.”
Read more here.
WSJ’s Personal Journal adds recurring themes
by Chris Roush
Emily Nelson, editor of Personal Journal, and Mike Miller, deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following announcement to the staff on Tuesday:
This week you’ll see a new look for Personal Journal, as we follow on the success of our Health & Wellness focus on Tuesday with new themes for Wednesday and Thursday. Our aim is to clarify the subjects each day will cover, giving readers a better sense of the rhythm and structure of the section, while keeping it a home for a wide range of unexpected and delightful news and feature stories. The section’s overall goal is to address readers as consumers, decoding what they see every day. We are very eager to have stories from all our bureaus around the world and hope you’ll send us lots of ideas!
Here is the lineup, with descriptions of some new recurring features:
Tuesdays: Health & Wellness. The focus remains on personal health, wellness, fitness, and diet. The What’s Your Workout feature profiles an executive explaining their workout, anything from a routine runner to a tree climber. This is a great outlet for beat reporters.
Wednesdays: Home & Digital.
- Our home coverage looks at design, and much more: the driveway, the daily commute, household questions such as who cleans the fridge, and new dramas such as what happens to the family dinner in the age of Twitter, plus Sue Shellenbarger’s Work and Family question.
- Our digital coverage will be anchored by Walt Mossberg’s Personal Technology column, moving to Wednesdays, and Katie Boehret’s Digital Solution column.
- Plus a selection of new features:
Makeover: We have lots of gadgets but life isn’t as efficient as it could be. In a mini-profile, a person describes what products they have, websites and apps they frequently use, and describes their life and their challenges. Then, an expert recommends what they should be doing instead.
Dream Home: In every home, there’s something the owner loves or perhaps splurged on. A photo showcases a room and break-out photos explain the trophy items and their personal stories. The marble bathtub she splurged on because she’s wanted one since seeing her grandmother’s as a child.
How I Spent My Allowance: An as-told-to interview with a child, explaining why they have coveted particular items and decided to spend their allowance on them, how much they get in allowance, what they must do to earn their allowance.
Multitaskers: What hidden talents does a product have? Problems it can solve that it wasn’t designed to? A wooden spoon opens wine bottle, white vinegar cleans a couch.
Thursdays: Style & Travel.
- Our style coverage looks at retail, fashion, how it affects readers’ daily lives, and how decisions get made behind the scenes, including Chris Binkley’s On Style column.
- Our travel coverage looks at all the tumultuous changes underway in travelling by plane, car and boat, and explains how a traveler can make intelligent decisions, featuring Scott McCartney’s Middle Seat column.
Plus:
What’s Selling Where: How one product is selling in different cities or countries and what’s driving the differences in taste based on executive interviews. As items are now available globally, companies still alter them, even as small as changing the color, for local taste.
Going Rate: What a product or service costs in different spots across the globe. A baby sitter on a Saturday night in Los Angeles, NY, London, for example?
Just One Thing: An expert offers advice on what’s the item worth spending on, and where you can cut corners. Splurge on lipstick but cheap mascara is fine? One chef’s knife that makes all the difference but the frying pan doesn’t?
Decode a Marketing Message: An interview with an executive at a company or an advertising agency to explain what they’re aiming to achieve with a particular ad or package.
What’s In Your Bag?: Take someone and explain what’s in their purse, backpack, gym bag, carry-on bag, hiking pack. Photo of person with their bag plus lots of pull-out photos of its contents with blurbs.
