Investigating Private Companies and Nonprofits: Online, Jan. 23-26

Private companies are far more numerous than publicly traded ones, and along with nonprofits, they are often some of the most important employers in town. But without the disclosures required of publicly traded companies, how do you get a handle on what this important sector of the local economy is up to?

Attend this free Webinar, and discover the many public documents that are available on private companies and nonprofits. Even if private companies don’t have to disclose their financials, they do have to file other documents with federal, state and local governments.

From incorporation papers to UCC records to court and regulatory filings and the revised IRS Form 990, public data exists on many private companies and nonprofits — if you know where to look.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

How to:

• Find public documents on private companies and the basics of what you’ll find in those documents, including the pitfalls
• Understand the new Form 990 and the basics of nonprofits’ finances
• Analyze and apply what you’ve learned to produce great stories

AGENDA: Investigating Private Companies and Nonprofits

Jan. 23: Finding public information on private companies – Chris Roush

Jan. 24: Finding public information on nonprofits and foundations – Roush

Jan. 25: Digging into the new Form 990 – Ron Campbell

Jan. 26: Bread crumbs – a case study on following the paper trail of a private company and nonprofit – Campbell

YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Your instructors will be two award-winning experts in the mining and analysis of information on private companies and nonprofits.

Ronald Campbell

Ronald Campbell is a reporter for The Orange County Register. He started The Register’s program in computer-assisted reporting. He has worked on many investigations, including probes of California’s dependence on immigrant labor, the trade in human body parts, abusive charitable fund-raising tactics and fraudulent stock sales. He’s won the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, as well as awards from the National Education Writers and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Before joining The Register in 1987, he worked for The (Fairfield, Calif.) Daily Republic and The Bakersfield Californian. A native of San Francisco, he earned a degree in history from Santa Clara University, where he edited the student newspaper.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush is the founding director of the Carolina Business News Initiative, which provides training for professional journalists and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he teaches classes on business and economics reporting. The Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Scholar in business journalism was named the Journalism Teacher of the Year for 2009 by the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, as well as the N.C. Professor of the Year in 2010 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

A former business reporter for BusinessWeek and Bloomberg News, he has also taught business journalism at Washington & Lee University and the University of Richmond. Roush posts actively on his Talking Biz News blog on news in the world of business journalism.

FIRST-TIME ATTENDEES

Check out our Technology Help Page for connectivity requirements, helpful tips and an instructional video on how to access Reynolds Center Webinars.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Please do not register unless you are sincere about participating. Space is limited, and signing up and not participating deprives someone else of the opportunity.

Those who successfully complete three regional workshops or online seminars presented by the Reynolds Center are eligible to receive a “Circle of Achievement” certificate.

This free seminar is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the workshop or the center, please email Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187. Cassandra Nicholson can also be reached at 602-496-9189.