Eagle Market in Globe opened in the 1920s. This was taken in the 1950s. Photo submitted by Diana Carey Hines

• Arizona’s 100 years in business

Arizona turns 100 on Feb. 14 and a team of print and web journalists have been scurrying for months to pull together fun and educational ways to celebrate the event.

This crowd-sourced package of photos will interest business journalists … or anyone interested in business or the Southwest.

The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com turned to their readers to gather photos representing business in Arizona.

From the editors:

“Our requests for vintage business images to help commemorate Arizona’s 100th birthday on Feb. 14 resulted in a deluge of historic photo submissions from throughout the state.”

Betty Beard, who pulled the project together shared details about photos and other memorabilia that came in from residents: Old photos capture Arizona. “I was touched at how many people dug out photos from scrapbooks, closets, drawers and picture frames and took the time to scan and e-mail them,” Beard said. “Unfortunately, we can only offer a sampling of what is out there.”

Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912. It was the last of the 48 contiguous states to be admitted to the union.

Keep posted at @azcentral on Twitter. I hear that from Feb. 14, followers will be in for a historic treat.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• How are private companies structured and how are they different from public companies
• Where to find public information on private companies
• How to produce a better private-company profile

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Jodi Schneider joined the Washington bureau of Bloomberg News as the team leader and editor for tax policy in fall 2010. Previously, she was a senior editor for American Banker, deputy editor for economics and finance at Congressional Quarterly, an assistant managing editor at U.S. News & World Report, and local business editor at The Washington Post.

She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

SELF-GUIDED LESSON

Take a look through the workshop session recording and resources below. At your own pace, you can walk through the self-guided lesson on strategies and tools for covering private companies.

Photo by flickr user Bosc d'Anjou

The four-day Webinar, “Investigating Private Companies and Nonprofits,” took place Jan. 23-26, 2012. | At the bottom of this page, you’ll find links to complete the self-guided training.

“Investigating Private Companies and Nonprofits” was also presented as two separate workshops in 2011 by award-winning experts in the mining and analysis of information on private companies and nonprofits.

AGENDA

Jan. 23: Investigating Private Companies — Finding public information on private companies – Chris Roush

Jan. 24: Investigating Nonprofits — Finding public information on nonprofits and foundations – Roush

Jan. 25: The Hidden World of Nonprofits — Digging into the new Form 990 – Ron Campbell

Jan. 26: How Ready Are You? — A case study on following the paper trail of a private company and nonprofit – Campbell

YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Ronald Campbell is a reporter for The Orange County Register. He started The Register’s program in computer-assisted reporting. He has worked on many investigations, including probes of California’s dependence on immigrant labor, the trade in human body parts, abusive charitable fund-raising tactics and fraudulent stock sales. He’s won the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, as well as awards from the National Education Writers and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Chris Roush is the founding director of the Carolina Business News Initiative, which provides training for professional journalists and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he teaches classes on business and economics reporting. The Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Scholar in business journalism was named the Journalism Teacher of the Year for 2009 by the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, as well as the N.C. Professor of the Year in 2010 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

How to:

• Find public documents on private companies and the basics of what you’ll find in those documents, including the pitfalls
• Understand the new Form 990 and the basics of nonprofits’ finances
• Analyze and apply what you’ve learned to produce great stories

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS

You can view the PowerPoints by clicking on the links below. To download and print them, you may be asked to sign up for a free account at a third-party vendor, Slideshare, or you can download them as PDFs.

The latest version of Adobe Flash is required to view the Webinar recordings. You can download the latest version of Flash for free here.

PROFESSORS SEMINARS

The business journalism professors discussed editors’ expectations and how to prepare students for the job market with Linda Austin, executive director of the Reynolds Center; Ilana Lowery of Phoenix Business Journal; Kathy Tulumello of The Arizona Republic; and Jodi Schneider of Bloomberg News.

Session Recordings

• What Editors Expect (panel discussion moderated by Andrew Leckey)
• Preparing for the Job Market — Schneider

Handout (PDF)

• Preparing for the Job Market – Schneider

STRICTLY FINANCIALS

The Strictly Financials Seminar fellows, who are professional journalists, studied financial markets with Gary Trennepohl of Oklahoma State University-Tulsa.

Session Recordings

• Financial Markets in 2012: Where are the Stories?
• Financial Markets in 2012: Where are the Stories? (continued)

Getting LinkedIn: Exploring LinkedIn for Business Journalists

PROFESSORS SEMINARS

The business journalism professors studied financial statements and common-size analysis with Jimmy Gentry of the University of Kansas.

Session Recordings

• Financial Statements I
• Financial Statements I and Securities and Exchange Commission Filings
• Financial Statements II
• Financial Statements II and Tools for Analysis: Common-size Analysis

Handouts (PDFs)

• Crocs – Financial Statements
• Kellogg – Financial Statements

STRICTLY FINANCIALS

The Strictly Financials Seminar fellows, who are professional journalists, studied financial statements and investments with Gary Trennepohl of Oklahoma State University-Tulsa.

Session Recordings

• Decoding Financial Statements
• Decoding Financial Statements (continued)
• Investing in a Time of Uncertainty

Handout (PDF)

• General Mills Financial Statements

PROFESSORS SEMINARS

The business journalism professors studied teaching techniques with Alan Deutschman of the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno; Steve Doig of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University; Pam Luecke of Washington and Lee University; Randy Smith of the Missouri School of Journalism; and Mark Tatge of DePauw University.

Session Recordings

• “Missing Possible: Assignments that Build Skills” – Luecke
• “Preparing Students for Business Journalism’s Future” – Smith
• “Reflections on a Rookie Year” – Deutschman
• “Teaching the Effective Use of Data in Business Coverage” – Doig
• “Injecting Multimedia into Your Business Journalism Class” – Tatge

Handouts (PDFs)

• Newsroom Math Crib Sheet – Doig
• Multimedia Resources for the Classroom – Tatge

PROFESSORS SEMINARS

The business journalism professors studied classroom organization and syllabus writing with Chris Roush of the University of North Carolina.

Session Recordings

• “Deciding What to Teach”
• “Organizing Your Class”
• “Organizing Your Class” (continued) and “Case Study: Syllabus Writing”
• “Resources and Keeping Students Interested”

Handouts (PDFs)

• Business Reporting Spring Break Trip Itinerary
• JOMC 450 – Syllabus – Business and the Media – Spring 2011
• JOMC 451 – Final Project – Economics Reporting – Fall 2011
• JOMC 451 – Syllabus – Economics Reporting – Fall 2011
• JOMC 452 – Syllabus – Business Reporting – Spring 2012
• JOMC 452 – Final Project – Business Reporting – Spring 2009
• JOMC 452 – Midterm – Business Reporting – June 2009
• Potential Business Journalism Textbooks
• Recommended Outside Courses
• Syllabus Writing Exercise

STRICTLY FINANCIALS

The Strictly Financials Seminar fellows, who are professional journalists, studied markets and sources with Jimmy Gentry of the University of Kansas.

Session Recordings

• “Understanding Markets”
• “Understanding Markets” (continued)
• “Understanding Markets” (conclusion) and “Strictly Financials Sources”

Handout (PDF)

• Understanding Financial Statements by Jimmy Gentry

Multimedia content has become so integral to breaking news that the Pulitzer Prize breaking news criteria were changed to emphasize real-time reporting after no breaking news prize was awarded in 2011. The Arab Spring and the Occupy movement have further driven home the essential role that social media plays in modern newsgathering and dissemination, and the widespread adoption of smartphones has made immediate, dynamic web content and access to journalists an expectation among news consumers.

As you resolve to make personal changes in 2012, consider these changes in our industry. As resources shrink and media companies are sliced up and re-formed, strong multimedia skills can keep you doing what you love. Here are five New Year’s resolutions to keep your multimedia skills sharp:

1. Be more human online. There’s a persistant attempt from many reporters — many of whom I respect and admire — to try to choke off their own personal information from public view. I think that’s impossible, and it even strikes me as a bit hypocritical since we spend so much time and energy writing about others’ personal information. Your readers know who you are, and as any good reporter knows, information about your family, your job and your life is likely already out there waiting to be found. I have learned by experience and example that being honest about your interests and your life online builds trust and makes you more relevant to readers. Of course no one needs to know when you go to the bathroom or when you eat your daily bowl of oatmeal, but, really, no one wants to follow a robot either. Let go of the tired hyperbolic excuses, and start sharing your experiences. As a journalist, your expected by your employer and your audience to be active online anyway, being authentic makes it a lot less of a chore.

2. Focus on relationships. After you finally decide to open up, it’s time to get to work on social media relationships. Set the technology aside emember that basic, shoeleather reporting concepts still hold true in social media — repeated, personal contact builds good source relationships. If you’re not using Twitter and Facebook effectively, they’re not helping you tell stories. The simplest and best way to strengthen your social media relationships is to engage. Search Twitter and Facebook for your location or keywords related to your beat, and reach out to people who are already involved. Ask questions of specific users, rather than shouting at everyone and no one. When someone reaches out to you, answer promptly. This work has paid off for me and many others who invest in it tenfold. The social media sources tend to be ready at the drop of an @ to share information, and they’re often a lot easier to track down quickly.

3. Use your tools. If you have a smartphone, use it. Heck, even dumbphones come with cameras and text messaging these days. Take a photo. Shoot a short man-on-the-street video. Tweet an interesting quote. With all the technology we carry in our pockets, it’s hard to buy excuses for filing only text when we leave the newsroom to report.

4. Learn at least one new multimedia skill. Whether its basic video editing, HTML and CSS, mapping or database management, make a point to pick up one new line for your résumé. You won’t even have to pay for the knowledge, just check out one of the Reynolds Center’s free workshops or one of the many other free training resources available online.

5. Get involved. Making connections with others and working together usually pushes me further than I would push myself. As mentioned above, the Reynolds Center offers a lot of free or inexpensive and interactive training both online and across the country. If you can afford it, or if your news organization is still assisting with professional development, go to a conference or apply for a training session. If not, ask your local Press Club, SPJ chapter or minority journalist organization if they offer affordable training opportunities, or volunteer to organize one. You can also take advantage of the tech community’s open-source ethos at a Barcamp or the next Social Media Club meeting. Or, drop in on the weekly Wednesday night #wjchat to stay connected to other web journalists. After all, we’re all web journalists now, and most of us could use a little help.

Programming note: This will be my last recurring post for BusinessJournalism.org. Writing about multimedia skills here has been a wonderful experience and has inspired me to take on some new challenges of my own. I’ve taken a new position editing a magazine and developing multimedia content for the University of Miami, where I also plan to attend graduate school. I wish you all a successful and exciting 2012, and if you ever have questions or just want to chat, contact me at RebekahMonson.com or on Twitter, @rebekahmonson.

Presentations and panel discussions covered an introduction to covering the green economy, investments in alternative energy, financials of sustainability and supply chain management challenges.

PANELISTS, PRESENTERS & MODERATORS

Click here for detailed instructor bios.

Kelly Carr is a senior online producer at the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

Marc Gunther writes about the impact of business on society. He is a contributing editor at FORTUNE magazine, a senior writer at Greenbiz.com, and a lead blogger at The Energy Collective.

James Hall is a business sustainability executive with proven success building high-performance organizations.

Kara Hurst is vice president of BSR and plays a crucial role in the company’s global expansion by overseeing offices on the East Coast of the United States as well as BSR’s conference and research teams.

Heather King produces two featured series for GreenBiz.com: View from the C-Suite and Greening the Icons.

Tom Konrad is a financial analyst, portfolio manager, and freelance writer specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency investing.

Bob Langert is the vice president of corporate social responsibility for McDonald’s, a role that has him overseeing the company’s supply chain strategies and global environmental management systems.

Ido Leffler is co-founder and “chief carrot lover” of San Francisco-based Yes To Inc., the makers of Yes To Carrots, Yes To Cucumbers, Yes To Tomatoes, and Yes To Blueberries.

Adam Lowry is the co-founder and chief greenskeeper at Method Products, Inc. a leading innovator in hip, healthy home care products.

Greg Neichin is the vice president, research & advisory for Cleantech Group where he assists in evaluating cleantech companies and assessing the development of cleantech markets.

Lisa Palmer is a writer and editor covering climate change, energy and green business topics.

Veena Ramani has managed relationships with a portfolio of Ceres companies, primarily from the electric utility and financial services sectors.

Urvashi Rangan is the director of technical policy for Consumers Union, and the project director of Consumer Reports’ GreenerChoices.org.

AGENDA

• An Introduction to Covering the Green Economy — Marc Gunther (moderator) and Kara Hurst
• The Green Economy Flow — Lisa Palmer (moderator) and Greg Neichin
• The Financials of Sustainability — Marc Gunther (moderator) and Tom Konrad
• Sustainable Operations Chat with PODER’s Nicolas Ibarguen — Moderated by Lisa Palmer
• Green Productions, from the Inside Out — Marc Gunther (moderator), Ido Leffler, Adam Lowry and Urvasha Rangan
• The Sustainable Supply Chain — Heather King (moderator), Dow Jones’ David Krein, James Hall, Bob Langert and Veena Ramani

Please view session recording links in modules below.

SELF-GUIDED LESSON

Take a look through the workshop session recordings and resources below. At your own pace, you can walk through the self-guided lesson on the basics of effective green economy coverage.

Here are some of the key changes to keep on your radar:

Profile pages: Twitter has reorganized profile pages to put important user data like lists, followers, videos and images in a more prominent position in the upper left-hand corner of the page. The new positioning places more emphasis on the connections people have through Twitter and makes it easier to dig down into someone’s profile.

Brand pages: Twitter’s new brand pages will allow companies to promote their prominent content, which means business reporters are less likely to miss big announcements on products or campaigns. Twitter is playing a bit of catch-up here, as Facebook has long accommodated brands and Google+ launched brand pages about a month ago. Brands are clamoring for more control over how they present themselves on social media, and Twitter is answering the call. Some big companies including American Express, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kia, JetBlue and Verizon launched their brand pages initially, expect more to follow.

Discover tab: The Discover tab puts several handy search and tracking features in a common place. Under this tab, you can search hashtags to understand trends, track who your followers are following and get recommendations of new people to follow based on topics.

In-line conversations: It’s easier than ever to drop in on conversations on Twitter, because now those conversations, and related photos and videos, are stacked seamlessly into your feed rather than appearing in the sidebar. Once you expand a conversation, it stays expanded in your feed.

Embeddable tweets:  The old screenshot method is is rendered obsolete in the new Twitter, and it’s now much easier to embed full-featured tweets in a blog post or story.