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.

The Particulars

Instructor: Diana B. Henriques,
longtime financial writer
for The New York Times and
author of the best-seller,
“The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff
and the Death of Trust”

Location: Online

When: Noon and 4 p.m. ET
Aug. 13

Register for this free,
hourlong Webinar.

Photo by flickr user ElvertBarnes

All that reporting, all those documents, all those late nights. But you finally got that story!

Now, how do you get people to read it? In today’s congested media marketplace, storytelling is more important than ever – but too often, it is the neglected element in business journalism.

Ask too many business reporters about storytelling, and they’ll say, “Oh, yeah – I have an anecdotal lede.” In fact, great stories are built from the ground up, beginning with reporting techniques that empower you when it’s time to write and moving on to eye-opening tools borrowed from the worlds of screenwriting and suspense fiction.

In this Webinar, you will learn these techniques to tell great stories from Diana B. Henriques, longtime financial writer for The New York Times and the author of the best-seller, “The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust.”

Author Diana B. Henriques signs copies of "The Wizard of Lies." Photo by Michel Duarte

Sign up for this free Webinar.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

How to:

• Gather the telling details while chasing the story.
• Deepen your story with universal characters from folklore and myths.
• Use techniques from screenwriting and potboilers to strengthen your writing.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Diana B. Henriques became a contributing writer to The New York Times in December 2011, after more than two decades at the paper.

As a senior financial writer at The Times, she specialized in investigative reporting on white-collar crime, market regulation and corporate governance. She turned her coverage of Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme into a best-selling book, “The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust.”

She was part of a reporting team that was named a Pulitzer finalist in 2003 for its coverage of the aftermath of the Enron scandals. She was also a member of a team that won a 1999 Gerald Loeb Award for covering the near-collapse of  the hedge fund, Long Term Capital Management.

She was a Pulitzer finalist in 2005 for exposing the exploitation of American soldiers by financial services companies. For that series, she also received the George Polk Award, Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the Worth Bingham Prize.

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

This free Webinar is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the Webinar or the center, please email Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.

A total of 1,030 entries will be considered for awards, bettering last year’s record entry total of 904, according to a press release from SABEW.

“We’re very gratified by this year’s unprecedented level of interest,” said SABEW’s president, Kevin Noblet, a managing editor at Dow Jones Newswires. “It clearly reflects the growing importance of financial and economic news, both to the public and inside the organizations that produce it.”

Winners will be announced later this month, with the awards presented Saturday, March 17, at SABEW’s 49th annual conference in Indianapolis. The conference will be at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. A tentative schedule for the Indianapolis event is on the SABEW site.

The Particulars

Instructor: Tami Luhby,
senior writer, CNNMoney

Location: Online

When: Noon or 4 p.m. ET
July 10

Register for this free,
one-hour Webinar.

Photo by flickr user Saad.Akhtar

Four years into producing stories on unemployment woes, you may be looking for new angles. The good news is that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has a treasure trove of data that offer fresh insights on your local jobs market.

In this hourlong, live session you’ll learn where to find the local statistics to substantiate the trend stories you are seeing  — and find new ones. The Webinar will feature examples of how your colleagues have used BLS data to produce enterprising local stories.

Register for this free Webinar.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

You will learn how to use BLS numbers to find and analyze the following data:

• Unemployment: Dig deeper into the national unemployment figures and find stats on the jobless by age, industry, race and education level.
• Employment sectors: How many people work in leisure/hospitality or finance or in your area, and how has that changed over the past year, five years or 10 years?
• Wages: Find fun facts such as how average weekly wages have changed in your state or metro area. You can search for all employees or specific sectors.
• Hot jobs: What professions are the fastest-growing nationally? How many carpenter jobs will exist in 2018? How many registered nurses?
• Employment population ratio, percentage of population in the workforce: Find out why these two measures can be more telling than just the unemployment rate alone.

Note: You don’t need to have a familiarity with Excel spreadsheets to benefit from this training. However, much BLS data can be downloaded and analyzed in Excel.

Tami Luhby

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Tami Luhby is a senior writer at CNNMoney.com, where she covers the economy. Previously, she covered personal finance for Newsday. Before joining Newsday, she worked at Crain’s New York Business and American Banker. Luhby also teaches at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, from which she graduated in 1997.

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

This free Webinar is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the Webinar or the center, please email Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.

David Brancaccio, PBS.

We’ll chat live with David Brancaccio, a special correspondent for Marketplace’s Economy 4.0 and host of the Marketplace Index, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, from 11:30 a.m-12:15 p.m. ET.

Brancaccio, a broadcaster for 33 years, was previously the anchor of public television’s NOW, an award-winning newsmagazine of investigative reporting and in-depth interviews. He also hosted California Connected.

Before joining PBS, Brancaccio was a Marketplace’s European correspondent based in London. He hosted the public radio program from 1993 to 2003. Among his beats: politics, human rights, national security, the environment, health care, and science policy.

From his Marketplace biography:

“Brancaccio specializes in telling stories important to our economy and our democracy through the eyes of the real people who live in the cross hairs of crucial issues. His accessible yet authoritative approach to investigative reporting and in-depth interviewing earned his work the highest honors in broadcast journalism, including the Peabody, the Columbia-duPont, the Emmy, and the Walter Cronkite awards.

A new version of Brancaccio’s public television special about Main Street as an engine of economic innovation called “Fixing the Future” will soon be a feature-length documentary.  He is author of a book about Americans applying their personal values to their money, entitled “Squandering Aimlessly.”

Brancaccio has a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University.  He has appeared on CNBC, MSNBC, and BBC television and his newspaper work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the BaltimoreSun, and Britain’s The Guardian.”

Tuesday’s chat will be on CoverItLive.  You can register below and we’ll send you a reminder as the time nears.

Come back on Tuesday with questions for Brancaccio.

Here is some information about the jobs from the news organizations who are searching for reporters.

OIL & GAS INDUSTRY REPORTER, Oklahoma

Description: The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com, a multimedia news operation in Oklahoma City, is looking for a multimedia oil and gas industry reporter to help us expand our coverage of Oklahoma’s energy industry. The applicant should have a minimum of 5 years news experience covering the energy industry, with particular emphasis on the financial, regulatory, environmental and operational areas of the oil and gas business. Please send resume to jobs@opubco.com or apply online at: Oil and Gas Reporter.

Salary Range: Commensurate with experience
Contact E-Mail: aknudsen@opubco.com
Mailing Address:
9000 N Broadway, Oklahoma City, OK 73114

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS, FELLOWS, Pittsburgh, Pa.

PublicSource.org is filling two immediate openings for investigative reporters. These are great jobs in a great city, says editor Sharon Walsh. PublicSource Jobs.

PublicSource is an independent news organization supported by The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, the R.K. Mellon Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to do in-depth reporting in the public interest.

More from Walsh about the jobs:

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS:

PublicSource, a non-profit news website focusing on original investigative reporting about important issues in Pittsburgh and the Western Pennsylvania region, has an immediate opening for two investigative reporters. The reporters will pursue stories of significance to the region, with a focus on holding the powerful accountable.

Successful candidates will be high-energy, passionate investigative reporters with proven skills in conceiving, reporting and writing investigative pieces that provoke change. You should also be unafraid of risk, excited about helping to build a website that is part of the future of journalism and able to juggle enterprise and investigative stories.

The ability to work well with others is a given for an enterprise that values collaboration both within the newsroom and with other media partners.

We are based in Pittsburgh, a city with a great deal more to offer than the Steelers. It is often on the top 10 lists of most livable cities, enjoys a low cost of living and has a cultural life that other cities envy.

Benefits include excellent health insurance (medical, dental and vision), life insurance and participation in our 403-B retirement program. We’re a non-profit, but offer a salary that is commensurate with your value and experience as a journalist.

Please send a resume, cover letter and writing samples to Sharon Walsh, swalsh@publicsource.org, with the job title in the subject line. Send all clips in .doc or pdf format.

FELLOWS POSITIONS:

PublicSource, a non-profit news website focusing on original investigative reporting about important issues in Pittsburgh and the Western Pennsylvania region, has an immediate opening for two investigative reporting fellows. These will be full-time jobs for recent graduates or Master’s grads who are interested in investigative reporting. They must come highly recommended and have shown that they are interested in investigative and enterprise work. They will work closely with the editor and two full-time investigative reporters that PublicSource is in the process of hiring, as well as with the experienced reporters of our media partners.

These will be rotating, two-year positions and will pay $35,500 a year and will include health benefits and two weeks of vacation. Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume clips and three references with contact information to Sharon Walsh, swalsh@publicsource.org, with the title Fellows position in the subject line. Clips must be in .doc or pdf formats.

The Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism are named for two-time Pulitzer Prize winners Don Barlett (left) and Jim Steele.

The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism celebrates the best in print and online investigative business journalism each year with the Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism.

Named for two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Don Barlett and Jim Steele, the awards were first given in 2007 and have featured a gold award of $5,000 and a silver prize of $2,000. Due to the growing number of exceptional submissions each year, a bronze award of $1,000 was added in 2011.

Entries for the 2012 award must have appeared in the year ending June 30, 2012. Each media outlet may submit no more than two entries. Submission deadline is Aug. 1, 2012, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

The Barlett and Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism from Reynolds Center on Vimeo.

QUALITIES OF WINNING ENTRIES

“Don and I have an informal motto: ‘Tell the reader something they don’t know,’” said Steele. “It sounds simple. Yet a lot of journalism is a rehash of what people already know.”

Judges will be looking for investigative enterprise, strong business theme, elegant writing style, clarity and impact.

The awards are conferred in January during Reynolds Business Journalism Week at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix.

Read more about previous winners.

Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism: 2011 Winners from Reynolds Center on Vimeo.

HOW TO APPLY BY AUG. 1, 2012

Applications will be accepted only online and from editors or the contest coordinator designated by your news organization. Applicants will need to provide the following on the Barlett & Steele Contest Entry Form (coming soon).

• Contact information for the editor submitting the entry.
• An editor’s letter outlining any (a) obstacles in reporting, (b) reforms or impact after publication and (c) corrections or challenges to accuracy. It can be submitted as a Word document (.doc) or an Adobe Acrobat PDF (.pdf) file.
• Up to four articles, submitted as either an active URL or as a Word document (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat PDF (.pdf). A sidebar counts as an article.

Applicants do not have to file all elements in one sitting, but all elements must be uploaded before the application is submitted for consideration. The deadline for submission is 11:59 p.m. PT on Aug. 1, 2012.

Questions? Email Andrew Leckey, Reynolds Center president, or call 602-496-9186.

The competition is open to full-time journalists who want to attend the center’s free training before and during the conference, as well as other sessions. The center will present the following free training:

• Be a Better Business Watchdog — CAR for Business Journalists, a daylong, pre-conference workshop on March 15.
• How Not to Be Bamboozled by Local Economic Studies by Duke University Knight Chair Sarah Cohen on March 16.

To apply for a fellowship, please email by 11:59 p.m. PT Feb. 8 the following to Reynolds Executive Director Linda Austin, with “SABEW Fellowship” in the subject line:

• Name, position, media outlet (if affiliated with one), email address, phone number.
• A resume.
• A 500-word statement on how attending the Reynolds Center training sessions and the rest of the SABEW Conference would benefit your professional development. Please include in this statement how many times you have attended SABEW previously, whether you would be able to attend this year without this support, and what your plan is for sharing what you would learn with colleagues.

Winners of Reynolds Center fellowships will be notified by Feb. 15.

SABEW will be posting other conference scholarship opportunities on its website soon.

Robin J. Phillips, Web managing editor for BusinessJournalism.org, will be teaching a free Webinar on Feb. 28 called, Getting LinkedIn -- Sourcing through Social Networking.

Jump-start your business coverage and career with free training in business journalism this spring from the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

Journalists can learn at their desks with the center’s free, live Webinars on topics such as investigating private companies and nonprofits and using LinkedIn to find sources, plus understanding local economic studies, municipal bonds, business editing, financial statements and economics.

The center also has free regional workshops  in Lexington, Ky., and Fort Worth on uncovering the best local business stories. It offers free workshops on tracking companies’ influence on politics before the Investigative Reporters and Editors conferences in St. Louis and Boston. And there’s free, hands-on training in computer-assisted reporting before the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Conference in Indianapolis.

Plus, the center provides free self-guided training, beat basics and daily tips off the news at BusinessJournalism.org.

REYNOLDS CENTER SPRING FREE-TRAINING SCHEDULE

Learn in just one hour a day with these free Webinars:

•   Investigating Private Companies and Nonprofits: Jan. 23-26.
•   How Not to Be Bamboozled by Local Economic Studies: Feb. 8-9.
•   Getting LinkedIn – Sourcing through Social Networking: Feb. 28.
•   Using EMMA to Find Great Stories in Municipal Bonds: March 27-28
•    Business Editing in Depth – 10 Things You’d Better Know: May 1.
•    Unlocking Financial Statements: May 14-18.
•    Economics 101, with NPR’s Marilyn Geewax: June 26-28.

And don’t miss these free workshops:

• Follow the Money – Tracking Companies’ Influence on Politics: St. Louis, Feb. 22, and Boston, June 13.
• Be a Better Business Watchdog – CAR for Business Journalists: Indianapolis, March 15.
• Uncovering the Best Local Business Stories: Lexington, Ky., April 13, and Fort Worth, April 26.

To suggest topics for training or host a workshop, please contact Executive Director Linda Austin at 602-496-9187. Please sign up for biweekly updates on additional free training.

ABOUT THE REYNOLDS CENTER
Since 2003, more than 10,000 journalists have learned to cover business better through free training from the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. The center is at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. It is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.

Ragas, a Business Journalism Professors Fellow at this year’s Reynolds Business Journalism Week, took a few minutes to share his secrets to success for aspiring business journalists.