Company Earning Reports Shape Friday Coverage

This is a day of juggling. Every day in newspapers is somewhat of a circus act, but days that include weekend stories, art and graphics are particularly taxing.

First, there's the major news of the day: Agilent Technologies, Sonoma County's largest tech employer with 2,350 workers, beats Wall Street estimates and its local division here is praised for its performance.

Meanwhile, lesser news was breaking out around us. A small semiconductor company reported earnings, as did one of a handful of public wine companies on the North Coast. Those stories were handled as briefs.

In the midst of all this, Sunday stories are in the works. Health care reporter Bleys Rose had noticed just about every hospital and major medical group was touting its latest purchase. He turned that into a trend piece, concluding that about $20 million in new investments had been made in just the last year.

Almost without fail, though, news intervenes and the weekend story editing falls into the daily crunch. The medical tech story did just that. But we persevered.

It's never too late, as well, to get started on next week. There's preparation for a Monday presentation that the business editor will make to United Way. A story on a hospital expansion, originally planned as a daily, was moved to next week so we could get art. Another story about businesses created through the riches of Indian casinos also has promise for next week.

But first, there is this week to finish. Both Saturday and Monday will be the priorities on Friday.

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