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Dick's Picks: Strength in Storytelling
By Dick Weiss July 2, 2008 I once had an editor who asked me if I could take a story and “write it onto page one.” I was flattered that he thought I could do such a thing. But frequently...
By Dick Weiss

Five Questions with...: Five Questions with Brian O'Connor
Brian O’Connor, personal finance editor and columnist at The Detroit News, talks with Ashley Macha about the challenges of mixing business and fun in his column, Money & Life. For his column, O’Connor incorporates the use of characters, based on...
By Ashley Macha

Roush Rant: Warning: Don't Slash Business Coverage
By Chris RoushJune 27, 2008 I’ve been feeling a bit like Alfred E. Newman lately, flashing my Cheshire cat smile and saying, “What, me worry?” while the rest of business journalism collapses around me. Let’s be honest. The situation in...
By Chris Roush

On the Beat: Playing into a Career Niche
When listeners tuned into Darren Rovell’s radio show, “the Sports Business Beat,” most had no idea he was still a junior at Northwestern University. He landed interviews with high-ranking sports business executives and covered the industry with the ease of...
By Kelly Carr

From our Editors: Web Views: Gasoline Graphics
I’ve spent the last few days tuning in to a local radio station at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., hoping to hear my name. I listen not to win concert tickets, but instead, my hopes are pinned on...
By Anita Malik

Magazine Watch: Is Water the New Oil?
The cover of the June 23 issue of BusinessWeek asks a frightening question: “Is Water the New Oil?” As someone who grew up on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan and currently lives on the Illinois side and who...
By Jennifer Hopfinger

From our Editors: Symbolic Indictments?
It’s unlikely the indictments of two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers represent a final saga in the ongoing subprime lending crisis. The pain is sure to continue for besieged homeowners, neighborhoods and local economies for quite some time. The...
By Jonathan Higuera

Under the Magnifying Glass: Don't Forget Director Pay
By Michelle Leder June 19, 2008When it comes to reviewing proxy statements for details on executive compensation, most business journalists tend to hone in with a laser-like focus on the CEO, often examining various aspects of the executive’s total compensation...
By Michelle Leder

On the Beat: Complete Gasoline Coverage
For business journalists, rising gasoline prices is now a daily story. But how often do the stories express more than just consumer ire? To really educate readers on the issues surrounding changing gasoline prices, reporters need to go beyond typical...
By Amy Eagleburger

On the Beat: Green on the Business Beat
Hot-topic issues such as climate change, high gas prices and greenhouse gas emissions have prompted many businesses to buy locally-sourced and organic products or recycle a bit more, consume a bit less. The way these green habits transcend into business...
By Ashley Macha

Roush Rant: Hooked on Kindle
By Chris RoushJune 17, 2008 I have seen the future of business journalism, and I can hold it in the palm of my hand. OK, maybe it’s a little big bigger than the palm of my hand, but it has...
By Chris Roush

From our Editors: Tracking the Business Behind the Tomato
E. Scott Reckard, a business writer for the Los Angeles Times, had already put in a full day of work on a recent Sunday when he got a call from an editor at the paper. The editor told him about...
By Jonathan Higuera

Five Questions with...: Five Questions with Bill Choyke
Bill Choyke has been the business editor of The Virginian-Pilot for more than five years. He recently spoke with Jonathan Higuera of BusinessJournalism.org about his approach to maintaining a vibrant business section during a time of industry change. 1. What...
By Jonathan Higuera

Dick's Picks: Finding the Economy's Silver Lining
By Dick Weiss June 13, 2008 The state of the economy may be bad news for many people but others are finding a silver lining. One business story cited here informs us that while we can expect higher bacon prices...
By Dick Weiss

Magazine Watch: Double Whammy: Oil and Housing
BusinessWeek magazine’s June 9th cover story, “Oil and the Economy,” offers a dire prediction to readers this month: “the double whammy of rising oil prices and plunging home prices could turn a mild recession into something more threatening.” Writer...
By Jennifer Hopfinger

Roush Rant: Naming Business Sections
By Chris RoushJune 2, 2008 The Sacramento Bee’s decision to merge its business news section and its metro news section into a new section called “Our Region” got me to thinking about what business sections are called around the country....
By Chris Roush

Dick's Picks: Intelligent Perspectives
By Dick Weiss June 2, 2008 Explanatory journalism is one of the most valuable tasks those writing business news can practice. The public wants and needs to know how things came to such a state with a particular business or...
By Dick Weiss

From our Editors: Building the Business Curriculum
One lament I’ve had in my business writing career is that I never prepared for covering business news in college. I took all the newsgathering classes I could, but aside from one advertising class in the b-school, there were no...
By Jonathan Higuera

From our Editors: Learning the Lingo
The lingo, which seems like a complex encrypted code, hits your brain from all sides. Your head is spinning, suddenly your stomach is rumbling and before you know it, panic ensues. “Read the 10-K, the 10-Q, pay attention to...
By Kelly Carr

Magazine Watch: Recession Jumpstart
A recession is bad for business, right? Not necessarily, according to Inc. magazine’s May cover story. It may sound counterintuitive, but the magazine says a recession can be a good time to start a business. “Nobody loves a recession,”...
By Jennifer Hopfinger

Roush Rant: The Changing Journal
By Chris Roush May 21, 2008 I’ve been willing to give the new owners of The Wall Street Journal the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn’t do anything to damage the best business journalism in the country, and arguably...
By Chris Roush

Five Questions with...: Five Questions with Rick Christie
Rick Christie, assistant managing editor for Business at The Palm Beach Post, talked with Jonathan Higuera about recent changes to the Business section and how the department spearheaded a major project last year on diabetes. That project recently won an...
By Jonathan Higuera

From our Editors: Driving the Issues
Much attention has been given to whether the business press is stoking the ambers of our economy’s meltdown. As a journalist, it’s easy to disregard those critics by citing the “blame the messenger” mentality. But before we quickly dismiss them,...
By Jonathan Higuera

From our Editors: Shoot the Story
Looking back I’m sure the e-mail said a lot of things, but I couldn’t seem to move past the first line, “Congratulations! You have been selected for video training.” Video training? This was confusing. I was a municipal government reporter...
By Kelly Carr

Under the Magnifying Glass: Disclosure Discovery is Difficult
By Michelle Leder May 13, 2008Whenever I do a presentation, I usually stress one key thing: companies are required to disclose all sorts of things in their routine SEC filings. But there’s nothing that requires them to make that information...
By Michelle Leder

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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism