Andrew Leckey

The Greatest Generation of business journalists will come from today’s university students.

A perfect storm of events, technology and globalization has equipped this generation to better understand and effectively report on the world of money than any that preceded it.

Its words and visuals for financial issues that matter will also carry faster and further than ever before to a mass audience.

Just as Tom Brokaw couldn’t dub the Depression/World War II generation “The Greatest” until long after the fact, time and perspective will be required here as well.

But here are seven advantages this generation has going for it:

• It has seen a dramatic economic downturn and volatile financial markets directly impact family finances. Job security, home values and money issues have been as common dinner discussion topics as the weather. This generation “gets it.”
• It has watched giant investment scams, inflated executive compensation, corporate failures and government bailouts dominate the news. As a result, it takes nothing for granted and possesses a healthy degree of skepticism.

• Instant access to financial data and information, the ability to report immediately and multimedia platforms help this generation tell dynamic stories. There are apps for everything. Numbers-heavy data can be tailor-made to the interests of consumers and readily accessible through clicks, pull-downs and other features.
• The branding of most everything is an ongoing part of its life. There is understanding that products, services, companies and industries may not last forever. Web and cellular phone leadership, for example, has changed hands many times in this generation’s lifetime. Car brands come and go. You must keep up. These young people mourned Steve Jobs’ passing and hope Apple Inc. innovations continue unabated.
• An array of views on current events—from the reliable and intelligent to the ridiculous and superfluous–barrage it daily through Internet and video channels. This generation must make daily personal decisions on what is credible. This drives home the point that thoughtful and accurate reporting on business and the economy can play a vital role.
• Stories have become global with any region capable of rocking the worldwide economy and markets. Opportunities in business journalism similarly stretch around the world. Major international news organizations that hire reporters have clout and are fond of bilingual reporters. Closer to home, local media now considers business to be an unquestioned lead item that attracts wide interest.
• The political debate is focused on the economy and other issues that involve money. Federal funding, Social Security, healthcare, trade, immigration and the environment all have dollar signs in their equations. History’s free-enterprise economist Adam Smith or government-interventionist John Keynes would fit right into today’s arguments in Washington.

These add up to a generation of journalists that doesn’t need to have the importance of business and the economy impressed upon it. The difference between today’s students and those of even five or 10 years ago is significant. They’ve lived in the maelstrom of business and the economy all their lives, many of their fellow students major in those subjects and business journalism is increasingly being offered in university curriculums.

That’s not to say that, like many other generations, it may miss its golden opportunity. Or that we as business journalists and educators might overlook our responsibility to keep this group’s interest alive in the name of good journalism and public service. Finding pertinent numbers, being a watchdog for the benefit of society and intelligently simplifying difficult concepts are demanding tasks.

I am, of course, biased because I spend a considerable amount of time with this generation as I teach courses in business journalism. I have also had opportunity to talk with many students in other countries. More than my parents’ generation, my own generation or those leading up to the current one, this generation is trying hard to understand the complex business and economic world it has inherited. I always learn something new from these young people taking a fresh view.

Whether it becomes the Greatest Generation of business journalists remains to be seen, but it is further along and better-equipped than its predecessors. Doing a better job of coverage will make a difference in its future and that of subsequent generations. Money isn’t everything, but it has powerful effect on the lives of everyone around the world. Assuming the responsibility of reporting on business and the economy accurately, creatively and relentlessly is a first step on the road to greatness.

My experience at NBC affiliate, KNBC LA has so far been a complete whirlwind. I have enjoyed the first couple weeks tremendously and feel right at home when it comes to knowing most of the staff and other interns in the department.

The department I am interning in is California Nonstop News, which is a 7 p.m. show launched in May featuring the top news Los Angeles news on Channel 4.2. Having the opportunity to be one of the first interns in the department of News, Business and Lifestyle has been an honor and an experience that I will take a lot from and be able to apply skills to my senior year at Arizona State University.

The first three weeks I have worked on featured pieces that are on the 7 p.m. show, writing script and shooting video with a photographer. I have been doing a lot of research in breaking news as well as business news to understand and pitch stories that would be great for the Nonstop News show. My task when I first arrive is to check my “nbcuniversal” email, then check the planner on Dalet for that nights show.

Usually if there are spots open for a guest I go right to researching the latest news or look at the rundown plan to catch what video they have already recorded. Using the Dalet software is very different from final cut pro, I have actually found it a bit more frustrating and such a long process to use. I have pitched some really good stories so far and booked guests for the show every time I am in the station.

Besides working on the computers and helping the producers, I have also had a chance to work in the field with videographers and a reporter doing man-on-the-street interviews, b-roll and practicing on camera. Once it hits 6 p.m. I have to be at the station ready to escort the guests to the green room and get them ready for the show, for instance, set up their mics and take them into the studio to meet with the anchor, Colleen Williams.

Overall, I know that the weeks to come working as an intern at KNBC, I will be able to learn and gain experience in the business of journalism. Something that I really enjoy about KNBC LA is that they hold events that each intern can go to, where employee’s come and speak to us about their career paths, mock tryouts and one on one interviews are optional. I want to take advantage of all the events that are presented during this summer’s program. Can’t wait for the many more things to come!

General Gregory “Speedy’’ Martin, a retired four-star general, was in demand from private industry after a 35-year career in the U.S. Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Jerry Fleshman)

Bender is a Loeb Award finalist this year for his story, “From the Pentagon to the Private Sector,” and said just being observant of possible trends in your beat can lead to bigger ideas.

He analyzed 750 three- and four-star retired military generals in his story, which took eight months to finish, and ultimately revealed the Pentagon’s own revolving door wherein retired generals were being hired by defense companies as consultants. And Bender said it all started with his own observations and curiosity.

“The idea generated from covering the Pentagon over recent years where I noticed what seemed to be more retired generals just kind of around, and almost all of them seemed to be working for one private company or another,” Bender said. “It was anecdotal.”

From Bender’s From the Pentagon to the private sector

“An hour after the official ceremony marking the end of his 35-year career in the Air Force, General Gregory “Speedy’’ Martin returned to his quarters to swap his dress uniform for golf attire. He was ready for his first tee time as a retired four-star general.”

Bender pegged his idea on the 50th anniversary of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address. The five-star general warned of the powerful permanent arms industry unlike the country had ever seen, and he and his aides worried how generals retiring and working for private defense companies would impact democracy.

“His warning was, we need to be aware of this because there may be some power there that may be unchecked,” Bender said. “This powerful industry has this political clout as well as spending power.”

To determine if Bender’s anecdotal observations of this trend were accurate, he, a researcher and a couple of editors who were involved with the story almost daily, needed numbers.

They requested from all four military branches lists of their three- and four-star generals who had retired since 1990, a time when military spending was at historical highs. They then created a database that showed where each went after retiring.

“We got this striking growth of them going from the military to the private industry,” Bender said. “The defense industry has swallowed some of the most senior officers in the military.”

The generals advise the companies on how to pitch their latest weapons or technology to the military for purchase, much the same as Congressional aides go to work for lobbying firms. In some cases they were still being called in by the Pentagon to advise on specialized areas, creating what Bender called, “the potential for insider trading.”

They began to contact some of the retirees directly to put a face on the story rather than simply writing about the numbers, Bender said.

Some didn’t want to talk at all, some would only verify information in their documents, and some who did want to talk left Bender with the impression that this was so common nobody thought twice about it.

The consulting companies doing the hiring were even more unwilling to talk, with no response to dozens of Bender’s requests. Being private companies, they are not under the same obligation as public companies to file information about themselves, meaning he had to rely even more heavily on the generals to provide information.

“It became this accepted process and nobody asked if it was a good thing or a bad thing,” Bender said. “One of the common responses (from generals) was, ‘I’ve been doing this for 40 years, this is what I know.’ ”

Bender also looked at ethics guidelines, or any rules that were in place to dictate behavior of retired generals, and he found that many of these hadn’t been updated in years to account for this new trend. Many generals said they were unprepared for the onslaught.

“The extent to which the military and defense industry had become intertwined and arguably even more of a complex is far greater and far tighter a connection that it was several decades ago,” Bender said. “Some generals would describe retiring and feeling almost like it was an NFL draft from defense companies offering what their new career could be.”

Most reporters will find it difficult to spend eight months on a story, and many newspapers no longer have the resources to provide a researcher who can help create this type of extensive database.

“I credit my editors for seeing this as something different and new and worth investing in me, a researcher, and a couple of editors,” Bender said. “There was an understanding from the get-go that this would take some time and was worth a few months.”

The techniques Bender used to gain information and create a peg for a historical idea can be applied to other types of stories, and finding that peg can be the life or death of a story.

Salvador Rodriguez

This summer has been hit with an epidemic of cybercrime. Hackers all over the world have stood up to the biggest of companies and government organizations, and broken into their systems. This topic has taken over most of the reporting I have done as an intern at the Los Angeles. I’ll even joke that I’m now the hacking beat reporter. So it was a great relief when my editor sent me out to cover a startup company in Los Angeles.

The company, Equipois, makes mechanical arms that help workers in various sectors work for longer periods of time and more safely. My story, “Equipois’ robotic limbs give factory workers and others a hand”, was a profile of the young company. When the story was pitched to me, I knew exoskeletal arms deserved much more than just text on newspaper – it deserved a video.

This would be my  first professional video, so I was a little nervous. However, I recently got some pretty good multimedia training at the Chips Quinn program with the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute. When I started filming, I surprised even myself at my success.

In the end, I’m pretty proud of the video I put together, and I definitely want to embrace that form of story telling more often. Even in business journalism, doing multimedia pieces can provide a more complete story for readers. In this case, my text told the full story, the bits and pieces that just wouldn’t work in a broadcast video, while my video went more in-depth on the visual aspect of what I was trying to explain.

It was a great experience shooting and reporting the story of Equipois, and I hope to do more multimedia business journalism stories while I’m here at the Los Angeles Times.

Summer intern blog compiled by Elvina Nawaguna-Clemente.

But today, when we visited Bloomberg’s Shanghai office, a different theme was on the forefront of the agenda: Companies neglecting foreign media outlets in China.

Stephanie Wong, bureau chief for the office, said one of the biggest struggles to overcome in Shanghai is getting access to information in a timely manner. She noted that in the United States, journalists can expect to receive certain press releases, trend information or market statistics on a regular basis. In China, however, that is not so much the case.

“Information doesn’t come in on certain days or times,” she said. “You have to be constantly looking for information on sites if you want it.”

Stephanie Wong at Bloomberg's Shanghai offices.

Wong said it helps that domestic news organizations sometimes know when and where the information can be found because reporters can then pick up stories and find the numbers based on that.

Another reason getting access to information is difficult in Shanghai is because companies tend to neglect foreign media organizations like both Bloomberg and Reuters. Wong said Bloomberg journalists are not always invited or even informed about the occurrence of press conferences and are sometimes even restricted from getting access to those meetings.

“They feel they don’t need us so they don’t want us,” she said.

That’s why Wong stressed the importance of foreign journalists establishing strong relationships with companies that operate in China. She noted that going to companies in person and setting up interviews with the executives is a key strategy in getting Chinese companies to open up.

Before concluding the discussion on foreign media, Wong gave one final piece of advice to Cronkite students and to any business journalists interested in working foreign news organizations.

“Learn to deal with your sources the best that you can,” she said. “That’s how you get the scoop.”

On Monday, we visited Shanghai International Studies University, where the students discussed the disadvantages and advantages of China’s “great firewall.” While the firewall blocks the access to the networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, the students said they were all still familiar with the functions of those sites and actually, use many Chinese sites that are similar. When we asked what the most commonly visited sites were, almost all of the students responded with Sina Weibo, a Twitter clone, Renren, the Facebook of China and Baidu, the Chinese google. This signaled to me that the use of networking and blogging sites are becoming common within the country.

The problem with these sites, however, as noted by Michael Cronkhite from Burson-Marsteller — one of the largest public relations Firms in Shanghai — is that the information being spread throughout them is not always accurate and can create errors in communication. He said that as social media and online networks become a more frequent tool for spreading information, public relation firms and journalists should tread carefully.

When talking with Chinese students about blogging and social networking, the majority said censorship is not something they consistently worry about. A student named Evelyn said when she writes blog posts, she takes into consideration the things that may be censored but that doesn’t limit her ability to write what she feels. If she were to write about a sensitive topic or use specific words that are blocked by the government, those things will appear on the blog with a large “XX.”

Censorship wasn’t deep concern for the students. They were more interested and delighted that they have the opportunity to use Chinese networking sites at all. Christina, a Chinese student who will enter into her sophomore year in the fall, expressed her concern that access to those sites may be blocked in the future since Facebook and Twitter have already been censored by the government in China.

A graduate student from the same university shared similar concern but said she has a deeper understanding why those two social sites are already non-accessible to them. She believes the main reason for this type of censorship could stem from the government’s worry that an over abundance of information could stimulate negative energy in China.

But not having access to Facebook and Twitter is not something that typically upsets Chinese students, she added.

“We don’t have as much of a need for them and we don’t have as much time as people in America might,” she said. “So it doesn’t bother us as much as you might think.”

Today what caught my attention is the way the Chinese value money. In a class discussion with Xu Wu and Andrew Leckey, both journalism professors at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, they explained the difference in the way Chinese and Americans view money.

A picture taken by Cronkite student Blake Wilson, who was comparing American and Chinese money.

The first interesting element to consider is the amount of cash the Chinese keep on hand or in a bank account. The idea of saving money resonates more with the Chinese than with Americans, who rely heavily on loans and credit accounts, rather than saving and using their own money. In my opinion, the Chinese just seem to have a greater respect for monetary value.

Wu pointed to a story written last week in China to highlight this point. The story noted that in Beijing alone, there are some 200,000 families with over $2 million U.S. dollars in their bank accounts.

He also noted that in China, the salary of workers only account for about 30 percent of their income, on average. Instead, he said a large part their income is accounted for by bonuses, stipends and the fact that there is no tax in China.

In America, taxes cause the loss of a substantial amount of money on a total paycheck. Leckey noted that Muhammad Ali received only about 30 percent of what he made due to heavy taxes. He added that taxes are such a huge issue in America but in China, they’re virtually not existent.

“Taxes are very capricious from state to state,” he said.

In addition to the information listed above, I also find it interesting that China’s salary is set up in a very unique way in comparison to America. Here workers are paid for 14 months of work in any given year. They are paid a “double salary,” in the last two months of the year and are even given free gifts, like ham for example, on major Chinese holidays.

The notion of a “double salary” in America probably wouldn’t go over too well with many company executives. In China, though, it’s the normal practice.

Wu also noted the difference in the value placed on money between China and America. He said it will be interesting to watch how the American dollar exchanges with the Chinese Yuan in the future.

When climbing the Great Wall one can understand why there has been such a communication gap. China has a long history of isolationist behavior, and Westerners have not been in Asia for all that long. Greek history and culture have more application in the United States because many Americans are descendants of those countries.

Nevertheless, there is a great sense of history attached to China’s most famous structure.

Traveling to the Great Wall is no easy task. the drive from Beijing was around an hour, and the bus labored up the steep mountain side to reach the ancient structure. The Great Wall is a site to behold, and it snakes across the top of mountainous terrain and has defensive structures on the side to allow for arrows to be fired from safety. The terrain is nearly impassible even without a giant wall sitting there.

The Great wall took several hundred years to build, is thousands of miles long and would take over a year and a half to walk.

Though the path along the wall does make traveling the rugged terrain more convenient,  it is by no means an easy walk. The steps incline so dramatically that great care is required to navigate most of the wall.

As Bill Rodgers once said,  ” The marathon will humble you.”  Obviously he never met the Great Wall.

To follow one of the local guides on a tour of the back alleys of Shanghai is to enter into a different world. Between the modern buildings of Shanghai are crevices that seem to belong in a different time and place.

Shanghai alley on a rainy day. Photo by Flickr user edans

All the Shanghai guides persistently prod and harangue people to follow them and once they hook a potential customer, they take their quarry to a series of hidden shops located in the bowels of Shanghai. Often these shops have lookouts standing by the door, and many of them can only be opened from the inside.

Counterfeiting luxury goods in China is illegal, but it is either not heavily enforced or very difficult to keep down. A walk down the alleys indicates that much of the counterfeit business continues to exist regardless of regulations.

All of the merchandise appeared very real, making me wonder: Is it stolen or counterfeited? Determining the authenticity of purses is a skill  I don’t happen to posses,  but the question still remains, and either way, these back alley peddlers are very careful.

During my trip into these shops I was forced to cover the lens of my camera, but I was still able to capture some video from the video camera on my smart phone.

The shops sell every type of brand name luxury item: Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton. Purses, shoes, bags, iPods and even underwear were all available.

Negotiating is a major component of back alley shopping, and a persistent buyer can often win items for six times less than the original asking price.

At the end of our excursion Tours handed out his business card and was more than willing to pose for us while we photographed him. The manufacturing of fake items is illegal, and the police even offer rewards for people who identify these outfits.

In some ways, there is a level of ignorance by many Americans about what China is, what it represents and what it eventually will become. And this ignorance is creating communication problems.

We increasingly hear that China is a nation to “fear” in the future but what do many Americans truly know about China?

As Americans we may think in stereotypes, that the Chinese run around wearing rice hats and doing kung fu. We see pictures of Mao Ze Dong wearing cowboy hats and think of a funky sounding language. We see communism, censorship and an oppressed culture. This doesn’t even begin to describe the “real”  China.

The back alley of a market near People's Square in Shanghai

Though it’s true that China is nearly impossible to understand because it is so complex and is developing so rapidly, people in America need to develop a hunger for learning about the Chinese culture — mostly because as the country moves forward, business cannot be understood without it.

China already has the largest car market and is the manufacturing hub of the world. The country is setting the price tag for consumer products worldwide and will continue to affect all global markets as it progresses.

The problem with the country’s progress is that the “perception gap,” as journalism professor Xu Wu calls it, will increase if the people living in our society do not awaken to the reality that China is and will continue to be a major player in the global sphere. To begin understanding, it is key to view China in three different lights, Wu said.

“There is the developed China, the in-line China and the remote China,” he said.

Wu also noted that even he, a native from Beijing, cannot fully understand China because there are so many areas that must be taken into consideration just to scratch the surface.

It is his hope that this study abroad course will give Cronkite students a better understanding of his country and enable us to spread the desire to become more curious about China and not to just rely on stereotypes for a matter of fact.

As Wu puts it, we will be the generation to either bridge or further the gap between America and China. Considering the current state of that gap, it will be an important role to carry.