Business Coverage of "Green" Issues Rises Dramatically in 2007, Reynolds Study Finds

TEMPE -- The number of “green” business stories published in the nation’s 10 largest newspapers this year has already doubled last year’s total, according to a study released Tuesday by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

A significant shift is underway in coverage priorities, the study found.

Examination of content determined that 81 of 154 business stories on environmental sustainability appearing since 2000 have been published during 2007.

A survey of business editors revealed that few have dedicated a reporter solely to green coverage, though the subject has been added to some existing beats. Editors said they carry a story with a “green angle” as often as once a week and none felt that reader interest has peaked.

“Coverage of business aspects of the environment is relatively recent, but the dollars involved and the public’s interest in it speak loud and clear,” said Andrew Leckey, Director of the Reynolds Center. “We believe the more intelligent coverage provided on the subject, the better.”

Representative of this green trend was a recent 12-page “Business of Green” special section in The New York Times that also included advertisements from environmentally-involved firms.

This two-part Reynolds Center research consisting of a content analysis and survey of business editors was conducted by Stephen Doig, the Knight Chair at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, working in conjunction with the Reynolds Center staff.

Green stories in business sections still reflect only a fraction of such stories found throughout the newspaper, the study found. It also examined green business coverage for publications of all sizes and the swift rise in corporate communications efforts on environmental topics.

For the complete report and analysis, click here.

More than 6,000 working journalists around the country over the past four years have taken part in workshops, online seminars and online tutorials of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, headquartered at ASU’s Cronkite School.

The Center is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, it is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.

The Cronkite School is a leading professional journalism college with 1,700 undergraduate and master’s students.

Contacts:

Andrew Leckey, Director of Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, (480) 276-3654

Stephen Doig, Knight Chair at Arizona State University Cronkite School, (480) 965-0798
           

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