Tracking the economy and business
Zach Tracer, a Duke University senior interested in business journalism, covered the 2011 Computer Assisted Reporting conference and filed a report on a session on tracking the economy and business. Tracer writes, “Brooks said journalists need to watch municipal finance if they’re looking to catch the next financial crisis. He pointed to labor protests in […]
Translating corporate statements into journalism
Robert MacMillan, an editor at Reuters, writes Tuesday about the process of translating corporate statements into useful English that can be used in business news stories while he visits the wire service’s Bangalore, India bureau. MacMillan writes, “The easiest way to make that pain vanish is to accept what the companies say. We’re working people; […]
The need to be more critical in business journalism
Columbia University professor Anya Schiffrin, who recently edited the book “Bad News: How America’s Business Press Missed the Story of the Century,” writes for Reuters about how she recently reviewed early business journalism and how it compares to current business reporting. Schiffrin writes, “Few today would accept the vagaries and obvious imprecision of those centuries-old […]
Of verbs and business reporting
Robert MacMillan, an editor and blogger at Reuters, writes Tuesday about the correct verb tense when writing about events that happened in the past. MacMillan writes, “What I loathe is the use of this tense to describe events that neither need to be cast more into antiquity than another part of the story, nor need […]
Biz journalism stylebook launches Web site
The Financial Writer’s Stylebook, which was published last year by Marion Street Press, is now available online at www.fiwords.com. A subscription to the site is $12 a year compared to the $19.95 cost of the printed book. Newsroom rates are also available here. The site allows journalists to search for words alphabetically and by industry, […]
Boston biz reporter having difficulty getting public records
Colman Herman of Commonwealth magazine reports about the difficulties facing Boston Globe business reporter Todd Wallack in obtaining severance agreements of state employees from the governor’s office. Herman writes, “In an appeal filed with Secretary of State William Galvin’s office, Wallack seeks unredacted versions of the documents, noting the settlements involved millions of taxpayer dollars. […]
The biz journalism word of the year is Greece
The Wall Street Journal reported an analysis of the news it published in 2010 reveals an array of words and terms that starred in this year’s coverage – many of which rarely appeared in 2009, if at all. Covering topics ranging from volcanoes and other disasters to sports and financial events, fashion trends and automobile […]
Personal finance reporting and what it means
Personal finance journalist Kerry Hannon writes on Forbes.com about why she got into the beat and what she likes about it. Hannon writes, “I relished interviewing CEOs of billion dollar corporations like global foodie Pittsburgh, Pa.-based H.J. Heinz Company, chemical and pharmaceutical giant, Bayer AG, and Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, now a […]
Stylebook takes on financial terms
Merrill Perlman, the former head of the New York Times copy desk who is now an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University, reviews the new “Financial Writer’s Stylebook” for the Columbia Journalism Review. Perlman writes, “Written by Chris Roush and Bill Cloud, both professors at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, it’s a […]
Explaining the world to readers
Katie Johnston Chase, a business reporter at the Boston Globe, talks about how her job is to explain the world to readers. Johnston Chase covers travel, tourism and workplace issues.
