By Jonathan Lansner Dear Reporter: Congratulations on your new assignment. You’ve been assigned to a coverage area that can potentially touch everyone in your organization’s audience. Real estate is often pigeon-holed in many news organizations as a niche beat. Depending on your news organization’s needs and desires, there’s great potential for real estate to be [...]
David Olinger of the Denver Post questions investment bankers’ involvement in school bond campaigns, noting that their help to pass tax increases may be a violation of Colorado law.
In the wake of Wal-mart’s alleged violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in Mexico, Main Justice has pulled together some experts and is offering a free webinar to explain the FCPA. Main Justice is a site run by Mary Jacoby, a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Salon and the St. Petersburg [...]
Spencer Soper of the Allentown Morning Call exposed the working conditions at an Amazon.com warehouse last year, noting the intense heat and ambulances parked outside to treat employees who were unable to endure the heat. He writes: “An emergency room doctor in June called federal regulators to report an ‘unsafe environment’ after he treated several [...]
By Amy Wilson LEXINGTON, Ky. – What, exactly, do we cover that isn’t business ? Linda Austin, executive director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University, was explaining to a classroom full of journalists how business coverage has tremendous community impact and builds audience. Then she turned it [...]
By Amy Wilson LEXINGTON, Ky. — The principles of covering business can also be applied to government, said John Cheves, investigative reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. At a workshop presented by the Reynolds Center, he shared some of the proven tips for uncovering good stores in local government budgets, taxes and contracts: Budgets: Follow the money. [...]
By Amy Wilson LEXINGTON, Ky. — Carlie Kollath, business reporter for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, writes a terrifically successful business blog in Tupelo, Miss. Biz Buzz, among other smart things, makes quick note of any sign of impending business activity and follows it in photographs. How successful? A Buffalo Wild Wings was coming to [...]
Jill Riepenhoff and Mike Wagner of the Columbus Dispatch analyzed about 30,000 consumer complaints from people who’ve been unable to correct errors on their credit reports for a four-part series called Credit Scars. The complaints, filed with the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in 24 states, accuse credit-reporting agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion of [...]
Alejandro Lazo of the Los Angeles Times reports that mortgage foreclosures have led to a boom for apartment rentals across the country. He writes: “The foreclosure mess has pushed millions of former homeowners with tarnished credit into a competitive apartment market across the U.S. Add fresh demand from young workers, few new units and tight [...]
