Business Reporters Hit the Right Keys

By Dick Weiss
July 2, 2007

I can't sing. I can't dance. I can't even clap in time.

But that doesn't keep me from appreciating the wonders of a piano. Look at what all those keys can do. They can make music that's sad or happy, jazzy or schmaltzy, funky or formal. Good newspapers and their staffs know how to play all the keys. You can be Elton John on one day and Vladimir Horowitz the next. That's why I'm singling out one paper in particular for doing just that -- The Dallas Morning News.

On one recent weekend, the paper conducted a symphony with a profound and well-reported piece on the lack of affordable housing that threatens to sweep many of Dallas' working class residents from its urban core. On another it offered a ditty about a couple of delightful waitresses who sass their customers and keep them coming back for more. And if you're looking for a ballad, check out the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's piece on the closing of a multi-million dollar business that manufactured those little carousels for tykes at grocery and dime stores.

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3 One Last Ride

Christopher Boyce of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

How many among us DIDN'T take a ride at least once on those little carousels outside or just inside the doorways to a Woolworth's, a Kresge's, or -- if you're a little younger -- a strip mall? Boyce taps into those memories with the story of a nearly half-century-old family business in Eldon, Mo, that is finally going out of business after manufacturing and maintaining tiny, low-tech kiddie rides. This story is not merely a trip down memory lane. It looks at how a business could sustain itself longer than you might imagine. It goes beyond profit and loss to passion and family ties.

2 Sisters Serve Up Plenty of Charm

David Flick of The Dallas Morning News

You can't miss with a lead like this:

Barbara Woodley, a waitress at Mama's Daughter's Diner, came to work last week wearing big hair, a purple blouse, black pants, bright costume jewelry and a pair of oversized, rhinestone sunglasses.

Her sister Natalie, everyone agrees, is the flamboyant one.

This story has several rim shot moments like this, but it's also an interesting yarn about two women who have had their ups and downs. At one point, they got rich when oil was discovered on their land. Then they lost nearly all of it. What they never lost was their sense of humor and love for their customers.

Note how Flick does a splendid job of splicing small scenes and dialogue into the story while using his narrator's voice to provide context and texture.

1 Is Dallas Losing Its Livability?

David Tarrant of The Dallas Morning News and David Dillon/Special Contributor

Tarrant and Dillon offer an intensively researched look into how booming property values in Dallas are beginning to drive the working class out of the city. Stories about a dearth of affordable housing have surfaced in many other places -- most recently in Seattle -- but this one is particularly compelling because it does such a good job of describing why the rest of us should care.

As Tarrant and Dillon explain, every city needs modestly-paid workers to attract industry. And while Dallas is doing well now, residents all too familiar with boom and bust cycles know what could be in store a few years down the road. This story -- the first -- of two parts also explores the human dimension as long-time residents face rising rents, taxes, evictions and the prospect of moving far away from where they work.