BusinessJournalism.org Reynolds Center for Business Journalism » Beats

Barrons.com seeks reporting assistant in New York

Reynolds Staff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:59:50 +0000

Barrons.com is looking for a reporting assistant in its midtown New York office to edit short articles written by Wall Street experts and to report and write original articles about stocks and the broader market.

The successful candidate must be a college graduate — graduate degree preferred – with some knowledge of business and finance and at least a year of copy-editing or news-writing experience. ”We want a candidate who is sincerely interested in a career in financial journalism,” says an e-mail detailing the position on the NICAR listserv.

To apply, e-mail your resume and five best clips to the hiring manager, Ed Lin.

Barron’s.com is part of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.

New, nonprofit news site offers $2,500 grants to investigate Fla. stories

Linda Austin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:56:19 +0000

Image courtesy of Flickr user perpetualplum.

The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FCIR) – a new, nonprofit news organization — will pay up to $2,500 to finance investigative projects that affect Florida.

Deadline to apply is Sept. 30.

The center “is particularly interested in funding projects dealing with government corruption, waste and inefficiency; immigration; education; and social justice,” according to its website. “Projects will be distributed on FCIR’s website, published by media partners, and made available to news outlets across Florida. Stories in English will be translated into Spanish for wider distribution, and stories in Spanish will be translated into English.”

Interested journalists should e-mail no more than a two-page proposal outlining the project, a resume, three clips and estimated completion date.

Launched in 2010, the center is financed by a $100,000 grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

The center is at the International Media Center, a nonprofit program at Florida International University in North Miami that trains journalists in Latin America.

Wall Street collapse milestones can prompt local banking stories

Melissa Preddy — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:05 +0000

Photo by Flickr user conorwithonen

Next week marks the second anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse that is credited as a leading milestone of the current global money malaise.

If you haven’t tackled a financial services piece in a while, or have yet to catch up with financial services reform laws, now’s your chance.

If you need a recap on Lehman, this NYT blog post synopsizes some of the new developments in the investigation into Lehman’s collapse. This Huffington Post channel also aggregates a lot of background information and related stories.

The collapse – aside from triggering a cascade of banking-system woes largely blamed for our current credit crunch and other aspects of economic stagnation – spawned the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, under the auspices of the FDIC. You can peruse the FCIC’s site for background information and bookmark it for developments; a report some expect to rival the 9/11 Commission report in size and scope is expected in December.

It also, of course, prompted the financial industry reforms which President Obama signed into law in July. Much is still on the table; as this recent Fortune article notes, the 848-page bill requires yet 250 rules to be made by many regulatory agencies.

This CNN Money piece outlines some of the pitfalls and unintended consequences, like even tighter credit. Mortgage lenders have privately vented to me that even creditworthy consumers are having problems getting purchase money, and small business lending has yet to rebound. All of these issues are fodder for executive interviews with bankers in your market.

And there may be some winners to report, as Brittany Cofer points out in this Chattanooga Times Free Press article about a home town bank luring customers with its personalized approach to lending.

The uncertainty isn’t helping the industry; this TheStreet.com article notes that some of the larger banks just hit 52-week trading lows. That would be an interesting angle to localize; see how the stocks of your regional banks are doing as changes to revenue streams like interchange fees. If you do this, include a sidebar polling local economists (academic and otherwise) about the chances of a double-dip recession and continued backpedaling in the stock market — two notions currently haunting many of your readers.

Meanwhile, here’s my earlier blog post with links to resources for covering other FinReg effects from interchange fees to downscaled local lending.

Photo by Flickr user oskay

Here’s an American Banker piece about financial reform fallout in the coming mid-term elections, as banks take revenge through campaign contributions. (You’ll need to register for a free trial to read the article.) That’s another angle worth localizing.

And in an interesting side note: Sotheby’s is timing the auction of Lehman’s corporate art collection to the second anniversary of the collapse — the first session is slated for Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. Here’s the catalogue; – proceeds will be divvied up among Lehman’s many creditors.

That could be a fun if frivolous story to localize – how many of your local companies are still forking out cash as patrons of the arts and/or maintain a private collection? This firm, Nixon Art Associates, says it’s a consultant to corporate art collections; perhaps they could offer some guidance.

Christie’s also has a corporate art department, and here’s a page from the Artists Help Network with a few more sources. Your region’s museums and university fine art departments probably know which companies have the goods, too.

Even if your local firms aren’t big on the arts scene, perhaps they operate an industry museum, or maintain an archive of historic products, or collect related documents. Either pegged to the Lehman art sale or just as a rainy day biz feature idea, profiling some local collections and their curators – complete with online multimedia galleries and an “Antiques Roadshow” style Q&A about values – could be a big reader hit.

Finding right person helps tell story of Miami’s illegal slaughterhouses

Rosland Gammon — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:00:17 +0000

Gus Garcia-Roberts with Miami New Times was a first-place winner in the Association of Food Journalists competition for his article about illegal slaughterhouses. His article starts with a man named Rafael, who goes shopping to get a pig to roast for his 57^th birthday. Gus writes:

“Today’s shopping trip is light years from kosher — and a good trek from the realm of the legal. Miguel [a worker] violated environmental, health, and animal cruelty laws. But it’s business as usual at the tiny, often filthy farms of rural West Dade, where Cubans and other immigrants keep alive a cottage industry of unlicensed slaughter.

But please don’t bother the birthday boy with your wimpy health qualms. ‘Dude, I just picked a pig that I saw was healthy — running around and frisky and all that — watched her be killed and watched her be cleaned,’ Rafael says impatiently as he heads home along Okeechobee Road. ‘How could it be safer than that? If you’d rather eat Hormel or something, go ahead.’”

Today’s Tip: “First find and get to know the real people involved, so you’re not just aiming your pen at a concept,” Gus says.

Gus Garcia-Roberts

He says he found Rafael by asking co-workers and friends if they knew any Cubans who were big Noche Bueno, or Christmas Eve, revelers, who might be buying pigs to roast.

Gus said he also wanted to avoid writing the story from a judgmental illegal-pork-is-bad perspective by focusing on police reports or government sources.

“As a reporter, it’s more fun anyway to smoke out (sorry) the real people who don’t see why there’s even an issue here,” he says.

For more reporting tips from Gus, see this interview with the Association of Alternative Weeklies.

CEO pay: Institute for Policy Studies and reporting on a ‘liberal think-tank’

Robin J Phillips — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:12:46 +0000

In its 2010 report on CEO pay, the Institute for Policy Studies looked at the 50 companies which have cut the largest number of jobs since November 2008.

What did they find? Well, among other things, last year those CEOs made an average of $12 million. That was 42 percent more than the average compensation for CEOs of S&P 500 companies during the same time period.

Here’s a link to an overview of the Institute for Policy Studies’ 17th annual report | PDF of the full report

“The main point of this report is to illustrate the great unfairness of the great recession,” according to Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. “CEOs are slashing workers in order to build short-term profits and fatten their own paychecks.”

This report attracted a lot of attention last week. The Institute links to stories in dozens of papers, from the San Francisco Chronicle to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

As I read through the report and supporting press releases, it struck me how much of a “liberal think-tank” the Institute is, as Marketwatch put it.

As I read its press information and watched the video below, it was very clear that the Institute for Policy Studies staff come to CEO pay with a definite point of view.

That didn’t keep business journalists from digging into the data themselves to report what the Institute found out about CEO pay. In addition to Marketwatch calling the Institute a “liberal think-tank,” SFGate.com quoted Charles Elson, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, who thought the study was a cheap shot.

It actually seemed admirable that the Institute was so upfront about its bias… er, point of view. They were being honest.

But I was a little dismayed that many news stories about the study didn’t seek any other side. In several cases, reporters were happy to quote the numbers and repeat that Sarah Anderson said, “I think that really shows a really perverse incentive system in this country.” That seemed a little too one-sided.

Award winner details soldiers’ deaths in Iraq from unsafe electrical systems

Rosland Gammon — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:00:33 +0000

Tom Zind

: A U.S. Army soldier searches for three missing soldiers in Yusifiyah, Iraq, in 2007 in this photo by The U.S. Army on Flickr.

Freelancer Tom Zind won the 2010 Stephen Barr Award for a 2009 story in Electrical Construction & Maintenance magazine focusing on unsafe electrical systems that have caused noncombat military deaths, injuries and property damage in Iraq. The award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors honors work in business-to-business publications that reflects insight, balance in the presentation of a complex subject, and other factors.

Judges noted the article “synthesizes congressional testimony and original reporting to both document and explain a serious, indeed fatal, problem for the American military in Iraq. The article is written with authority, displaying expert knowledge of the subject, yet it is accessible, vivid and easily understood.”

The story focuses on the deaths of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, who was electrocuted in January 2008 while showering in his Baghdad barracks, and Staff Sgt. Christopher Lee Everett, who was electrocuted while power washing a Humvee in September 2005. Tom writes:

“Their deaths, blamed on improperly grounded electrical systems, have prompted government inquiries into military procedures for addressing noncombat safety issues in Iraq, as well as the competency and reliability of contractors working there. They’ve also unleashed a multi-pronged military effort to identify and fix dangerous electrical problems that could pose a similar threat to troops and civilians quartered in thousands of structures across that country.”

Today’s Tip: Focus on humanizing a story as much as possible, Tom says.

“That’s not a fresh observation, but this story certainly was tailor-made for that because of the tragic deaths of servicemen,” he says in an e-mail. “But I think being able to also highlight in sidebars the stories of the two electricians who were planning to go to Iraq gave the story another human-interest dimension.”

He also suggests engrossing yourself in the subject so that you can understand the issues.

“Map out what you’re going to ask sources based on new information as you come across it, and spend the time, if you have it, to craft the story as clearly and compellingly as possible,” he says.

His last tip: keep reviewing your notes to understand what you’ve learned and what’s important.

“Keep assessing after every interview and new bit of information uncovered, where the story is headed,” he says. “Stories can take sudden twists and turns, and you need to be able to do some course correction as the process unfolds.”

Who benefits from rising cotton, other commodity prices?

Melissa Preddy — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:00:14 +0000

A worker sorts cotton in bales by quality in this photo by Flickr user NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health).

Cotton. It’s what’s for dinner.

Er, perhaps not. Sorry for the mixed marketing taglines, but cotton and meat futures are soaring, and you might want to check into the implications for consumers and producers in your neck of the woods.

As this Arizona Republic article details, cotton prices are hitting “nirvana” levels as U.S. farmers benefit from the fallout of floods and other Asian weather debacles. Here’s more on cotton from Bloomberg. Clearly, if growing the fiber is part of your region’s economy, you’ll want to check into the boost local farmers may be getting and into any shifts in export patterns.

Needless to say, if your market supports any textile makers, apparel manufacturers or the headquarters of housewares retailers, you’ll also want to gauge the effect of higher cotton futures on their 2011 outlook.

Even if you aren’t in a major growing region, this might even be a good time for a look at niche and artisanal weavers, or alternatives to cotton such as hemp and silk. Check into the demand for organic cotton (and just how au natural such products are) if it’s a regional specialty.

It appears that decent crop demand also is offsetting farmland values that continue to decline, as noted in this column from Wichita Falls, Texas. How is that working in your region?

Meanwhile, as this Independent story notes, some global meat prices are hitting 20-year highs – a possible boon to producers stateside who supply overseas markets.

Other commodities such as orange juice also were surging last week. In fact, global food prices in general are hitting 20-year highs, according to the BBC.

That’s causing problems in some developing nations, but oddly U.S. consumers are seeing a bit of deflation at the supermarket checkout counter, according to this Nielsen blog. Plenty of competition among retail grocers and jobless, penny-pinching consumers are squeezing food prices here. (I’ve noticed plenty of ‘new lower price’ tags on grocery-store shelves here in Michigan.)

It’s unclear to me how retail chains such as Winn-Dixie and processed-food makers such as Campbell Soup Co. are showing profit growth amid pricing challenges – but explaining the economics of the grocery basket to consumers is a fun story to tackle.

Telling the stories of workers in a down economy

Lindsay Nadrich — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:00:12 +0000

A recent story from The New York Times featured workers struggles in a economic downturn.

News outlets have found a variety of ways to tell the story of the millions of unemployed workers struggling across the country.

This week, The New York Times and Reuters highlighted two different angles of the issue: the toll of unemployment wages and how the numbers of out of work Americans has affected the housing market.

An article by The Times, “New Job Means Lower Wages for Many,” humanized the unemployment issue by focusing on two women forced to take lower paying jobs as a result of the economic recession. It was over a year before one woman found employment and both women ended up taking jobs in different fields.

To further highlight the unemployment toll, The Times also featured a video, which followed the challenges faced by two girls who graduated from college in 2008 and haven’t yet found jobs in their field of study. Both girls majored in journalism, but are now working as bartenders to pay the bills. The video follows their routine of job hunting by day and tending bar by night.

By personalizing the issue and utilizing different multimedia components to tell the story, the publication offered its viewers a fresh perspective of the unemployment crisis.

While The New York Times examined how unemployment has affected earnings, Reuters posted an article showing how a lack of workers has impacted the housing market. The article, “Unemployment drives more home sellers to cut price,” focused on how housing prices have fallen due to buyers not being able to meet the higher sale prices.

Both news outlets found interesting ways to tell the stories behind the unemployment numbers and show the scale of the problem. With 14.6 million unemployed Americans as of July 2010, it’s obvious that this is a story with many different angles that will stick around for quite some time.

Finding financial angles in football season

Melissa Preddy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:00:14 +0000

By Flickr user jdanvers

From middle-school fields to multimillion-dollar arenas, gridiron seasons are getting under way. And even if you can’t tell an end run from a tight end, you can score some great business-of-sports angles from the sidelines.

The National Football League is debuting a $50 million “Back to Football” campaign which apparently involves retailers, nonprofits like the United Way and even public schools in a blast of promotions and contests. It’s an effort to build on the increase in TV viewership and other interest sparked in part by the Cinderella Super Bowl run by the New Orleans Saints.

Here’s more on the campaign from the Sports Business Journal; you can get a free online trial to the publication, which is a veritable tutorial in covering the business of sports. Meanwhile, see how much of the “Back to Football” spending is trickling into your local economy, along with other initiatives by the NFL to support youth sports, wellness and other local initiatives.

Forbes sort of owns the coverage of the business of football; from its newly minted NFL franchise value rankings (recession has been tough on team owners) to this piece that ran last week about top tailgating towns – and what that means for the entrepreneurs who cater to them. Then there’s FanVision – spectator-controlled in-stadium technology. Take a look at these reports for reader-friendly business angles you can localize.

Then there’s the college football season; no less commercial for its supposed ties to academia. Here’s an article from the University of Iowa Hawkeyes site that breaks down the economic impact of college football on the surrounding county; your readers will snap up a comparable analysis of your hometown team’s impact. This company, SportsImpacts, says it specializes in economic analysis of sports business; you might see if they have any data or tips to share with journalists.

Don’t overlook high-school football for business angles. The anatomy of operating a concession stand would make for a fun feature, let alone a personal finance piece on the cost of participating in high school sports, or profiles of local vendors such as uniform makers and suppliers, sports camps, specialty coaching services and more.

Teacher layoffs may be affecting coaching, as this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article points out. Note also in the article: Difficulty garnering sponsorship money from car dealerships – which have been whammied with poor sales and of course many forced closures as automakers downsize their retail networks. Here’s a piece from Raleigh pointing out that travel costs are keeping many top players from making the usual rounds of colleges and camps.

Also: It’s not just about the games and the players. Umpires, cheering squads, bands, announcers, facilities managers, travel coordinators – each niche reflects a mini-industry that has its own vendors, suppliers, infrastructure, professional organizations, conferences and other facets that either generate or cost money. Seek them out and you’ll get a truer picture of the reach of the sport into your hometown economy and careers network.

Other ideas, of course, include bars, restaurants and banquet centers; sales of big-screen TVs and other electronics; specialty cable television packages for sports buffs, stadium giveaways, used memorabilia sales, football books and magazines, licensed (and fraudulent) merchandise and sponsorships of local teams.

ProPublica, Planet Money tackle CDOs with comic strip, song

Rosland Gammon — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:00:53 +0000

ProPublica’s Jake Bernstein and Jesse Eisinger tackled the very complicated issue of mortgage bonds known as collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, to show how bankers created fake demand for the once lucrative product. They write:

“An analysis by research firm Thetica Systems, commissioned by ProPublica, shows that in the last years of the boom, CDOs had become the dominant purchaser of key, risky parts of other CDOs, largely replacing real investors like pension funds.”

Jake and Jesse worked with NPR’s Planet Money, which came up with the idea for a song, called “Bankers Song: We Didn’t See It Comin’,” Jake says.

The project also features a comic as a graphic to show how CDOs went into other CDOs, Jake says.

“We searched for metaphors but could never find an exact fit,” he says. “We had toyed with an assembly line to show the CDO process but it quickly became way too complicated. So, we fell into the comic format as a way to show the incentive of the manager to take assets from the bank and the disappearance of investors.”

First Tip: Find creative ways to illustrate a story.

“This topic is extraordinarily complex. Anything like a song or a comic that makes it more accessible, and frankly, more fun, is a most welcome addition,” Jake says.

Second Tip: “Don’t be afraid of complexity.”

Jake Bernstein

Jake suggests:

Talk to as many people as possible.
Don’t take no as the final answer.
Enter every interview willing to learn.
Don’t be afraid to return to your sources a dozen times if necessary to make sure you understand what they are telling you.
Start writing early because once you try and write it out, you’ll really find out whether you understand it or not.