BusinessJournalism.org Reynolds Center for Business Journalism » Biz Journalism Professors

A company’s culture is impossible to fake

Reynolds Staff — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:23:46 +0000

By Randall Smith

When I was a young business editor in the 1980s, Ewing Kauffman invited me to his Kansas City office for a chat.

Large boards are everywhere at Google because 'ideas don't always come when seated.' Photo by TechnoBuzz

Kauffman, who made billions in the pharmacy business and was founder of the Kansas City Royals, said he wanted to get to know me. When I entered his office, I was surprised to see him making coffee.

“Have a seat,” he said. “Do you like your coffee black or with crème.”

What followed was a 90-minute conversation that was interspersed by breaks, at least on two occasions, when Kauffman noticed that I needed more coffee. He’d get up, bring over the coffee beaker and fill both of our cups.

During our talk, I learned how he’d built a business empire that would eventually fund two of Kansas City’s largest foundations. Kauffman also learned my plans to raise the level of business journalism at the newspaper.

There remains a key lesson in that 25-year-old exchange: Companies are more than products and quarterly reports. More importantly, companies succeed or fail because of the people who run them.

COMPELLING TEAM IS WHAT MATTERS

Last spring, a Pittsburgh venture capitalist, Alan Veeck, spoke to my Missouri University class about what is the most important part of a business. Students had lots of important thoughts: A great product. A large market size. Strong industry dynamics. A plan that demonstrated how to really make money.

All are good answers, but not the most important, said Veeck.

“A compelling team,” he said, “is what matters most.”

So as we look at companies as business journalists, it’s important that we get to know the dynamics behind them. Listen to some of the nation’s best business journalists.

“My goal, when I’m writing, is to tell a story that people will find interesting and, with luck, that will help them understand what’s going on in the world,” said Allan Sloan, a seven-time winner of the Gerald Loeb Award and Fortune’s senior editor at large. “So I almost never write about companies as companies – I write about an aspect of them that makes a point, tells a story, or contains a moral.”

PERSONAL VALUES/ PUBLIC INTEREST

Such was the case with Sloan’s stories about the late George Steinbrenner in the early 1990s.

“When Steinbrenner and 11 other investors bought the Yankees for $10 million from CBS in 1973, the shipbuilding business was Steinbrenner’s major source of wealth,” Sloan wrote. “The Yankees were a toy.

“These days,” Sloan continued, ”the Yankees are Steinbrenner’s major source of wealth, and American Ship is his indulgence. American Ship hasn’t made money since 1986 and hasn’t paid a dividend since mid-1987.”

This international group was dubbed a Mega Team by IBM in 2005

Sloan went on to paint a picture of Steinbrenner’s finances. He was using the Yankees to salvage the struggling family business at a time when the baseball team needed cash to sign some much sought-after hitting talent.

As a Kansas City Royals fan, I’ve never cried about the Yankees’ difficulties. But Sloan’s reporting shows how a business leader’s personal values can sometimes be at odds with the public’s interest.

PUTTING A HUMAN FACE ON BANKERS

David Cay Johnston, who won a Pulitzer in 2001 for his tax reporting at The New York Times, said that some of the best reporting that he’s seen recently has been National Public Radio’s work on the home mortgage crisis.

Specifically, Johnston is referring to “This American Life’s” series that put human faces on the bankers who were lending $500,000 to borrowers who did not have jobs or an income stream. Take a listen: The Giant Pool of Money.

Many years ago, one particular business owner used to stop by my office early in the morning whenever he was angry about a story. It happened so frequently that I wondered how he treated his subordinates.

The answer came rather quickly. Over the years, we reported the firing of one trusted senior executive after another.

On the positive side, I once spent about an hour recruiting journalists to the McClatchy Company with Gary Pruitt, the president and chief executive officer. His comments to students were uplifting and his answers to tough questions revealed a deep knowledge of the business. Pruitt is one reason that I’m optimistic that McClatchy will survive the current economic downturn.

IMPOSSIBLE TO FAKE

Barney Calame, who was deputy managing editor at The Wall Street Journal and the public editor at The New York Times, said a company’s culture is “almost impossible to fake.”

The culture of the best companies and employees “has to include a deep and embedded commitment to being more than the product being sold,” said Calame, a past president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. “And that can take extra resources and effort to build that kind of culture; it can’t be done on the cheap.”

Any doctor will tell you that the most important examination in a physical is the blood test. When looking at a company, carefully look beyond the product. Examine those who are in charge, the culture and the industry dynamics.

That is the lifeblood.

Randall Smith is the Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

Fellowships offered for January business journalism seminars in Phoenix

Reynolds Staff — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:55:18 +0000

Hani Shawwa, a producer for Reuters Insider, sorts through company statements during the 2010 Strictly Financials seminar in Phoenix.

ATTENTION: Experienced business journalists and prospective business journalism professors.

The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is offering 24 fellowships worth $2,000 each for four days of study in business journalism – Jan. 4-7 in Phoenix.

Fellowships cover training, lodging, materials and most meals. Fellows receive a $500 stipend to offset travel and other costs.

The seminars will occur during Reynolds Business Journalism Week at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The journalists’ Strictly Financials seminar teaches the essentials of covering financials, from stock markets and bonds to financial statements and company research. | More on the Strictly Financials seminar

The Business Journalism Professors seminar will cover the essentials of teaching a hands-on, university course in business journalism. | More on the Business Journalism Professors seminar

The fourth annual, concurrent seminars (with 12 Fellows attending each one) will be led by award-winning professors and journalists, including Jimmy Gentry, journalism professor at the University of Kansas.

One highlight will be a discussion with the legendary investigative-reporting duo of Don Barlett and Jim Steele, along with the 2010 winners of the Reynolds Center’s Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism.

Rachel Tobin Ramos, a 2010 fellow and business reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said, “It gave me much more confidence in my financial reporting, has allowed me to ask better and smarter questions, and overall improved my coverage. I cannot thank the Reynolds Center enough for this amazing course.”

A 2008 fellow, Roger Desmond of the University of Hartford, won a university innovation award for starting a business journalism course. He said the award “came with some extra money for research and travel, and of course, I owe it all to you!”

TO APPLY, Deadline Nov. 1: For information on the two seminars, including how to apply online, go to the call for Strictly Financials or Business Journalism Professors.

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

ABOUT THE CENTER
The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, located at ASU’s Cronkite School, was launched in 2003. More than 10,000 journalists have benefited from its free training. A calendar of upcoming free workshops, as well as daily tips on how to cover business better, are at BusinessJournalism.org.

The Center 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.

AEJMC attendees invited to apply for all-expenses-paid Business Journalism Professors Seminar

Linda Austin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:10:54 +0000

Pam Luecke, Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at Washington and Lee University, teaches Fellow Buck Ryan from the University of Kentucky in the 2010 Business Journalism Professors Seminar at Arizona State University. Photo by Molly Smith.

The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism invites AEJMC attendees to apply for an all-expenses-paid, four-day seminar on how to teach a college course in business journalism.

The fourth annual Business Journalism Professors Seminar will be held Jan. 4-7, 2011, at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix.

Limited to 12 prospective professors, the fellowships, valued at $2,000, cover the full cost of training, lodging, materials and most meals. In addition, fellows receive a $500 stipend to help offset travel and other costs. Application deadline is Nov. 1.

This seminar will cover the essentials of teaching a hands-on course, including financial, economic and writing aspects. It is an opportunity for prospective business journalism professors to learn from experienced instructors and journalism professionals, with follow-up after the seminar ends as well.

A 2008 participant, Roger Desmond, professor of communication at the University of Hartford, won a university award for innovation in teaching for starting a business journalism course. The award “came with some extra money for research and travel, and of course, I owe it all to you!” he wrote.

The sessions will be led by award-winning professors and journalists, including James Gentry, journalism professor at the University of Kansas. Gentry received the Barry Sherman Teaching Award from AEJMC.

A highlight of the week will be a panel discussion with the legendary investigative-reporting duo of Don Barlett and Jim Steele, along with the 2010 winners of the Reynolds Center’s Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism.

The selection process is highly competitive, and applicants must supply the following at BusinessJournalism.org:

Contact information
A 500-word statement explaining how the seminar will improve their instruction and why they should be chosen
A resume
A one-paragraph bio
A letter of support from their dean or department head recommending the applicant and outlining the program’s commitment to offering a course in business journalism.

For more information, e-mail Andrew Leckey, president of the Reynolds Center and Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at ASU, or call him at 602-496-9186.

The call for entries will be announced at AEJMC’s 2010 Denver Convention Aug. 4-7.

How do you dig your way into an international story sitting in Topeka?

Reynolds Staff — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:50:09 +0000

By Randall Smith

Educate yourself so you can cover the impact of international business on your market.

The headlines are rapid fire.

A British oil rig blows up in the gulf on April 20, killing 11 workers. The Greek government, which has hidden years of overspending, sets off a European financial crisis. North Korea torpedoes a South Korean navy ship, killing 46 innocent sailors.

So far this year, we’ve faced a possible war in Asia, an environmental disaster of record proportions and the potential for a second round of economic hardships. These international events are occurring at a time when the American press, in a financial crisis of its own, is devoting less attention to the world.

“We ignore international news at our own peril,” says John Schidlovsky, director of the International Reporting Project at Johns Hopkins University. “What happens 10,000 miles away can affect our community today, tomorrow and next week, in good ways and bad.”

So how can we, as business journalists, be ready to tell the international story that’s exploding on our front doorsteps? How can we, sitting in Topeka or Toledo, place events in context when there are limited funds to travel and to learn?

In short order: Ask good questions. Think about international stories in the context of your community. Take advantage of free training and travel that, surprisingly, is available in these difficult times.

Start by asking these questions to academics, industry experts and hometown businesses:

What trends and events do you see overseas that might impact the businesses in your community?
What foreign companies are doing business locally, either through outsourcing or through direct ownership?
What is government doing to attract jobs from overseas?

When I first started my reporting career in the 1970s, I worked for a medium-sized paper in western South Carolina. The state was proud of its low wages, and the economy was three-tier: agriculture, textiles and all of military pork that the late Senator Strom Thurmond could pump into the state from Washington D.C.

I met many people, including local leaders, who had worked their entire lives in a cotton mill – just like their parents and grandparents.
But the economy changed dramatically when the French and Germans arrived.

Michelin, the giant French tire maker, offered higher pay and better jobs, and eventually located its North American headquarters in Greenville. BMW, the German luxury car manufacturer, followed in 1994 with a large assembly plant. This June, BMW proudly announced the production of the millionth X5 at the Spartanburg facility.

One of many reasons behind the German and French invasion: The state invested in two-year trade schools to change the dynamic of its workforce.
When I began my job, there was not one college graduate on the city council. When I left about five years later, everything had changed. All of the new council had graduated from college and a couple of them had doctorates.

Fast forward to today. At my last job in the Midwest, senior management dealt regularly with several foreign operations. Our press was built in Germany, and we spent a year with a German team as they installed it. Some of the financial work was done in India, and it wasn’t unusual to see executives from that company. And newsroom software was developed in Denmark, and we sometimes dealt with engineers there. My former company isn’t that unusual.

Look, too, at the trade offices that are in your city. I was amazed, for example, when I first discovered large delegations of Taiwanese who would came to the Midwest in the late summer. They would work their way, along with other foreign trade groups, from the Dakotas to Oklahoma, buying wheat to feed their countries every year.

Another helpful tip comes from Eleanor Bloxham, who is the CEO of the Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance. She writes regularly for Fortune and other business magazines, and is a voracious reader.

She says that she watches Europe for trends that may reach America. One unexpected wave, she says, is gender balance on boards of directors, a big issue now in Scandinavia. Another is the restriction of CEO pay, which is a movement in Great Britain.

A larger change is on the horizon, she said. The upcoming generation is much more savvy because so many have studied abroad. Indeed, U.S. students are studying overseas at rate that’s four fold of 20 years ago, according to the Institute of International Education. What’s more, there are notable increases, according to IIE, in these diverse destinations: China, Ireland, Austria, India (all up about 20 percent), as well as Argentina, Costa Rica, Japan and South Africa, which are up nearly 15 percent.

Add this to the equation: Thanks to the Internet, my son is as likely to play a video game with someone in France as he is a classmate down the block.
In short, there are lots of international story leads in our local universities.

Another way to dig your way into an international story, advises Bloxham, is to ask the question that nobody else is asking. In a recent column for Fortune on the BP oil spill, she raised an important point: Why didn’t BP’s corporate culture allow for a whistleblower?

In past crises, such as the explosion of the space shuttle, there have always been workers who have noticed something is wrong but have been stifled by culture, she writes. What can company executives do to encourage employees to step forward? In addition to asking good questions, we’ve got to think community context. If the car beat was important to my city, one story that’s fascinating is the next generation of transportation.

In particular, where will the lithium come from for the batteries for our electric cars?

Bolivia, which has 50 percent of the world’s known reserves, could become the next Saudia Arabia. Chile will not be far behind, and Afghanistan has important deposits. Competitors for these resources, including China, are already at the doorsteps in some of these countries.

What does this mean for General Motors? What does that mean for your city?

An important way to gain perspective on these issues is to travel and report overseas. In 2007, I went on a ten-day trip to North Korea and South Korea that was sponsored by the International Reporting Project. See www.internationalreportingproject.org.

The program’s core mission, says Schidlovsky, is to increase the American public’s understanding of global issues by providing opportunities to U.S. journalists to report overseas. In the past 12 years, 330 U.S. journalists have received grants from IRP to report from more than 90 countries around the world, with a strong emphasis on the developing world.

As North Korea moved towards implosion this spring, there were a dozen of us who could write authoritatively about the situation because we had been there.
I encourage you to check out IRP and apply for one of their upcoming fellowships.

And, finally, will America suffer a double dip recession?

My answer is to closely watch how Europe handles its economic crisis this summer. Greece was not the only country that was overspending its budget. As we know now, many in the EU were doing much the same thing. Now, they must cut their budgets and that includes social programs. For many in Europe, retirement will be put off beyond age 65.

Just as the American recession spread to European shores in 2008, the EU’s handling of this year’s crisis will instantly be reflected in our markets and economy.

We’re in this together.

Randall Smith is the Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

Memorial scheduled for Dave Morrow, Reynolds chair and former TheStreet.com editor

Reynolds Staff — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:34:00 +0000

Dave Morrow

The Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, will conduct a memorial service for Dave Morrow at 2 p.m. Feb. 26.

Morrow, who died Feb. 1 at 49 after a monthlong bout with cancer, was the first Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the school.

Dean Jerry Ceppos said those attending the service in the atrium of the Reynolds School will be invited to tell stories about Morrow. His family is also planning a memorial for him on March 20 in Spartanburg, S.C.

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has launched a scholarship fund in his name, which received an initial $50,000 donation from commentator Jim Cramer, who worked with Morrow at TheStreet.com. Morrow was editor-in-chief of the business news site for eight years before joining the faculty at the Reynolds School last year.

NY Times’ Leslie Wayne named first Reynolds visiting biz professor at ASU

Reynolds Staff — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:42:51 +0000

Leslie Wayne asks a question at the Barlett & Steele Awards ceremony during Reynolds Week 2010. Photo by Molly Smith

Leslie Wayne, an award-winning business reporter at The New York Times, is the first Donald W. Reynolds Visiting Professor in Business Journalism at Arizona State University.

She will teach graduate and undergraduate courses during the spring semester in the business journalism specialization at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The position is made possible by a generous new three-year, $390,000 grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The Las Vegas-based foundation also supports the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and the Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the Cronkite School.

In her more than 20 years with The Times, Wayne focused on investigative and enterprise reporting, covering Wall Street, campaign finance, corporate governance, municipal finance, military contractors and the aerospace industry. She is a five-time winner of the New York Times Publishers Award.

“Our students are extremely fortunate to have someone of Leslie Wayne’s remarkable journalism skills here at the Cronkite School for the spring semester,” said Dean Christopher Callahan. “Thanks to the support from the Reynolds Foundation, the Cronkite School has become the center for business journalism education, with our new visiting professor joining Reynolds Chair Andrew Leckey, the Reynolds Center, our business journalism specializations on the graduate and undergraduate levels and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.”

Wayne will teach the senior-level Business and Future of Journalism course and co-teach business journalism classes with Leckey. She also will be a featured speaker in the school’s First Amendment Forum on March 29, speaking on the business of politics.

Wayne has an M.B.A. in finance from Columbia Business School and was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economic Journalism. She is an honors graduate of the University of Michigan.

Before coming to The Times, she was a regional and business reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer and a political and statehouse reporter at The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. She has appeared in Times’ videos and podcasts, written for the Times political Caucus blog and appeared on television and radio, including CNBC and NPR.

The grant that is funding the visiting professorship also will support scholarships, internships, visiting professionals and graduate assistantships in the business journalism specialization.

The specialization was launched in September. Students at the undergraduate and graduate levels take coursework both at the Cronkite School and ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business. The program also offers dedicated internships with major financial news organizations around the country.

“Traumatic financial events underscore the need for quality, well-trained business journalists and the Cronkite School is committed to helping meet that need,” Leckey said. “The Reynolds Foundation has repeatedly shown confidence that today’s young people can make a significant difference in reporting on the world of money.”

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. It has committed over $100 million through its journalism initiative.

Where will grads find journalism jobs?

Linda Austin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:16:53 +0000

Jodi Schneider

Jodi Schneider, a senior editor for American Banker in Washington who handles newsroom recruiting, predicts that jobs for new grads will be in specialty pubs and Web sites, not small-town newspapers.

In addition to understanding their niche — such as energy or politics — and multimedia, new grads need the ability “to decipher complicated information in whatever field they’re in,” she said in a session for business journalism professors during Reynolds Business Journalism Week.

“They still need to know how to be journalists. They need to know the difference between primary and secondary sources….They need to be able to ask the right kinds of questions. They need to be able to source. They need to be able to use documents well.”

“It’s not real sexy necessarily,” she said of the niche-site jobs, but it’s a way to have a job out of school and get started on a path to bigger and better jobs in media.

The traditional path of moving from smaller to bigger newspapers is less viable because few newspapers are hiring, she said.

In her previous position, Schneider was in charge of newsroom training for Congressional Quarterly. She is also a former local business editor at the Washington Post.

Why should journalists use social media?

Linda Austin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:13:17 +0000

Robin J. Phillips

For journalists, social-networking sites can be used as a communication tool, a source for news stories, a breaking-news platform, another place to publish content and a way to grow audience.

Robin J. Phillips, Web managing editor for BusinessJournalism.org, made those points to a combined lunch-time session of business journalists and business journalism professors during Reynolds Business Journalism Week.

“Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are just tools. We are the social media,” she said.

She noted that Twitter has carried the first reports of major news events, including the first photo of the USAirways crash in the Hudson River and the news of Michael Jackson’s death.

To get started, she suggests taking a look at what other business journalists are tweeting. Muck Rack has one of the better lists of business journalists who tweet. BusinessJournalism.org also maintains a list of business journalists on Twitter. See whom the journalists you like are following and follow them.

She offered several ways to search for sources using social media:

An Arizona Republic reporter found 1982 graduates for a story on how college grads did in the last big recession by searching Facebook for those identifying themselves in their profiles as having graduated that year.
www.search.twitter.com will search for specific words in tweets, such as unemployed, and can be parsed down to a specific geography by using the advanced search.
HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, offers a way to get specific sorts of people to respond. Using an URGHARO, or urgent HARO, Megan K. Scott at The Associated Press was able to get several skiers to respond to a question about their helmet use within a matter of hours for a folo on Natasha Richardson’s death.

She advised that users of social media are looking for loyalty, news, instant impact and real people. She said to lead with the good stuff, write killer heads and be real.

More than 300,000 businesses are on Facebook alone, and some larger companies, such as Ford Motor Co. and Virgin America, have employees assigned to monitoring what’s being said by their customers on social media and responding to it.

You can follow the Reynolds Center on Twitter @BizJournalism.

Agenda for 2010 Business Journalism Professors seminar

Reynolds Staff — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:14:35 +0000

These are some highlights from the agenda for the Business Journalism Professors Seminar held in Phoenix during Reynolds Business Journalism Week, Jan. 4-8.

BUSINESS JOURNALISM PROFESSORS SEMINAR

MONDAY—Jan. 4, 2010
6-9 p.m. - Fiesta Bowl-watching party on 16- by 9-foot screen
Boise State vs. Texas Christian University
Optional social function with beer, wine and snacks
Forum, 2nd Floor, Cronkite School

TUESDAY—Jan. 5

8:30 a.m. – Welcome, ASU President Michael Crow, Andrew Leckey
9 a.m. -      “Today’s Business Journalists as Investigators,”   Walt Bogdanich
10:30 a.m. –      “Deciding What to Teach,” Chris Roush
Noon –    Box lunch with Walt Bogdanich
1:30 p.m. - “Organizing Your Class,”   Roush
2:30 p.m. - Case Study: “Syllabus Writing,” Roush
3:30 p.m. -   “Resources and Keeping Students Interested,” Roush
5-5:30 p.m. –    Cronkite Building Tour – Mike Wong

2008 Fellows

WEDNESDAY—Jan. 6
8:30 a.m. - “Financial Statements I,” Jimmy Gentry
10:30 a.m. - Continue: “Financial Statements I” and “Securities and Exchange Commission Filings,”
Jimmy Gentry
NOON - Awards Luncheon with Don Barlett and Jim Steele
“Reynolds Center’s 2009 Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism”
Panel Discussion and Presentation of Awards

1:30 p.m. - “Financial Statements II: Tools for Analysis,” Jimmy Gentry
3:15 p.m. - Continue: Financial Statements II: Tools for Analysis,” Jimmy Gentry

THURSDAY—Jan. 7
8:30 a.m. -   “Mission Possible: Assignments that Build Skills,” Pam Luecke
9:45 a.m. -   “Preparing Students for Business Journalism’s Future,” Randy Smith
11 a.m. –    “What They Don’t Tell You about Teaching Business Journalism,” Andrew Leckey
NOON –      LUNCH — “What You Need to Know about Using Social Media in Business Journalism,” Robin J. Phillips
1:30 p.m. -   “Teaching the Effective Use of Data in Business Coverage,” Steve Doig
3:15 p.m. –    “Covering Business and Government after the Financial Debacle,” Jodi Schneider
5 p.m.       Group photo – meet in the Forum

FRIDAY—Jan. 8
8:30 a.m. -   “What Editors Expect,”
Panel: Ilana Lowery (Phoenix Business Journal), Kathy Tulumello (Arizona Republic),
Jodi Schneider, Linda Austin
10 a.m. –    “Finding Business in Every Beat,” Jodi Schneider

Fellowships awarded to 23 business journalists

Reynolds Staff — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:47:21 +0000

The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism awarded 12 fellowships to its “Strictly Financials Seminar” for working journalists and 12 fellowships to its “Business Journalism Professors Seminar.”

One fellow was unable to attend, so the total number of fellowships during Reynolds Week was 23.

This year’s Fellows are:

STRICTLY FINANCIALS SEMINAR FELLOWS
• Debbie Blumberg, reporter, Dow Jones Newswires, New York
• Dave Dreeszen, business editor, Sioux City Journal, Iowa
• Lynn Ducey, staff writer, The Phoenix Business Journal
• Karina Frayter, business producer, CNN America, New York
• Joanisabel Gonzalez, staff reporter, El Nuevo Dia, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
• Jason Hidalgo, business reporter, Reno Gazette-Journal, Nevada
• Brenda Krebs, Business Monday editor, The Miami Herald
• Rob Neill, business producer, MSNBC.com, Redmond, Wash.
• Jeanine Poggi, reporter, TheStreet.com, New York
• Rachel Tobin Ramos, business reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Hani Shawwa, TV producer, Reuters Insider, New York
• Emily Stanitz, producer, Bloomberg Television, Washington

BUSINESS JOURNALISM PROFESSORS SEMINAR FELLOWS
• Adrianne Flynn, Capital News Service bureau director, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
• Emily Burch Harris, lecturer and student newspaper adviser, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, N.C.
• James Kates, assistant professor, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

• Herbert Lowe, professional in residence, Marquette U niversity, Milwaukee, Wisc.
• Ceci Rodgers, adjunct instructor, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. (Rodgers was unable to attend)
• Buck Ryan, associate professor, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
• Steve Schifferes, professor, City University, London, England
• John C. Schmeltzer, chair, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
• Claire Serant, assistant professor, St. John’s University, Queens, N.Y.
• Sheila L. Tefft, senior lecturer, Emory University, Atlanta
• Leslie Wayne, visiting professional, Arizona State University, Phoenix
• Nailene Chou Wiest, director, Global Business Journalism, Tsinghua University, Beijing

(The photos of the fellows, above, are left to right in alphabetical order. The 12 Professors Seminar Fellows are on the top two rows. The 12 Strictly Financials Seminar Fellows are on the bottom two rows.)