Writing biz news books a special art
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE The task of writing a book about a business news event by a journalist takes an ability to collect and gather facts that are often useless in daily business journalism, said three book authors Sunday. “You learn things that I don’t think I can sell to Larry [Ingrassia, New York Times […]
The voice of business journalism needs to change
Adam Davidson, international business and economics correspondent for National Public Radio, talks with Zachary Seward of the Neiman Journalism Lab about how he and colleague Alex Blumberg cover business news differently than the rest of the media world. Here’s an excerpt: Davidson: I mean, I’ve been thinking, I wanna do like a story or something. […]
Investigative reporting workshop and MSNBC.com launch bank tracker
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE The Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, in conjunction with msnbc.com, has launched a system for business journalists called BankTracker that examines banks to determine which ones are financially secure and which ones are in danger. The analysis is based on reports every bank is required to file each quarter with […]
Biz journalism loses its context
Charles Davies, a veteran business writer and editor who has worked BusinessWeek and Reuters, among others, argues that the problem with business journalism is a lack of context. Davies writes, “These are parlous times, and even Buffett has fallen prey to business journalism’s increasing sensationalism and its regular failure to provide sufficient context. “For every […]
Steiger: Biz journalism better, but could be more skeptical
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE Paul Steiger, the former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and now the head of ProPublica, the nonprofit investigative journalism operation, says business journalism has improved a lot in the past 25 years, but it could be even better. “Reporters and editors understand much better the importance of the credit […]
Remembering Jim Brady
Crain’s New York Business editorial director Greg David writes Sunday about well-known journalist James Brady, who died last week and wrote a column for the business newspaper for 21 years, from 1984 to 2005. David writes, “Jim always got the biggest response for his columns attacking George W. Bush, a sign of how his liberal […]
Tracking the criminals in the mortgage industry
Ryan Chittum of Columbia Journalism Review interviewed Miami Herald reporter Jack Dolan, who has been writing a series about criminals in the mortgage industry in Florida. Here is an excerpt: TA: I like the matter-of-fact tone in this series. You guys called a spade a spade when you found wrongdoing or gross negligence. I think […]
Mason is "broadcast journalist of the year"
Marketwatch media columnist Jon Friedman named CBS financial correspondent Anthony Mason as the broadcast journalist of the year for his explanatory reporting on the financial crisis. Friedman writes, “Night after night, Mason took pains to help his viewers understand what was unfolding on Wall Street and in Washington — and, most important, why they should […]
Let's decide on Wal-Mart's name
Hal Morris, writing on his Grumpy Editor blog, wishes media outlets would decide on the correct style for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Morris writes, “While the formal name is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a new logo shortens it to Walmart. “Associated Press, as in a story in Tuesday’s newspapers reporting that the company is about to add […]
Former WSJ staffer: Murdoch has made paper better
Tunku Varadarajan, a former op-ed editor at The Wall Street Journal who now writes for Forbes, argues that new owner Ruper Murdoch has made it a better paper. Varadarajan writes, “No, Murdoch has not ruined the Journal, as many had feared he would. In fact, in the estimation of not a few, he has already […]
