The 2012 election campaign promises to be one of the most expensive ever, with companies contributing even more because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United case in 2010. That ruling says that government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections.
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?
For its most recent analysis of home sales in metro Phoenix, The Arizona Republic wanted something visual to show the spread of foreclosures.
“We wanted to show that foreclosures are affecting people throughout the Valley, not just in the older neighborhoods or just in the suburbs,” says Ryan Konig, Web programmer/data desk manager.
In the end, the paper created an interactive graphic called “31 days of foreclosures,” with an exploding number of red and blue dots to indicate foreclosures throughout the city.
“To protest Wall Street and the bankers is basically saying you’re anti-capitalism.” — Republican Presidential hopeful Herman Cain
Occupy Wall Street has business journalists in a corner. The initial inattention to the protesters — understandable because of their relatively small numbers— turned quickly to blanket coverage when the demonstrations spread beyond New York and the news media were stung by accusations of neglect.
I’ve been trying to resist a predictable “macabre businesses” story-idea post this Halloween season, figuring my post last spring about thanatotourism covered it for 2011. Then I found out that the National Funeral Directors Association annual convention was being held this week, and my resolve crumbled. A perusal of their agenda generated so many possible [...]
This Los Angeles Times post caught my eye the other day: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emergency room visits surged in 2009 by nearly 10 percent. Contrary to the conventional stigma, the report says that only about 8 percent came to ER with non-emergent issues — though in another study quoted [...]
Every once in a while we come across a job that sounds just right … but for just the right person. Cars.com, which is based in Chicago, is looking for a news editor to join the editorial staff who also is able to write original stories and reviews about cars and is also adept at [...]
Tom Frank of USA Today exposes state lawmakers who receive pensions that triple their salaries. That’s the case for a South Carolina lawmaker who Tom writes about in his lede. He earned a salary of $10,400 a year, but now gets a pension of $32,390 a year even though he hasn’t technically retired.
Tom notes in his story the pension rules are set by lawmakers themselves. The rules often inflate the compensation used to calculate retirement benefits.
Tuning in to airlines’ earnings — here’s a great New York Times piece about how a la carte fees are helping carriers back to profitability – brought me up short with the realization that we’re only about five weeks from the so-called busiest travel weekend of the year, the long Thanksgiving holiday. The problem is, [...]
