That’s a blow to a stumbling jobs market and a hit to consumer and worker confidence, though investors probably love the idea of trimming 20 percent of labor costs.  (There’s always a ‘who benefits?’ silver lining story somewhere…)

In 2011, tens of thousands of workers in the financial sector lost jobs, along with other big job cuts at companies like Pfizer, Cisco and Delta. While American Airlines is the first big job-cuts announcement of the year, it’s a sure bet it won’t be the last.

And with the New Year just under way, you might want to consider some sort of tracking feature — a blog, a standing graphic in your publication or online, or a monthly roundup — to chronicle mass layoffs this year in your region.   Seek out the pink-slipped workers and document their job searches, career retraining, personal finance challenges and other aspects of unemployment.  Joblessness and the mismatch between corporate expectations and what candidates have to offer is one of the most unexplored stories of this era, as I mentioned in a previous blog post about the so-called talent gap. 

Readers love longitudinal features that let a story unfold throughout the year, and they are great background for presenting ongoing economic data and statistics.  Why not give it a try this year?

Finding laid-off workers is easy; visit your area’s workforce commission, go to job fairs, ask financial advisers to refer clients, call executive recruiting firms, talk with local union leaders and consider soliciting reader stories through a blurb in the publication or online.

Meanwhile, bookmark this Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly mass layoffs report; it’s really a trove of data that slices mass layoff numbers by industry, occupation and by state.  (A mass layoff is one involving 50 or more workers.)  Perusing the report, it’s surprising how many events fall under radar screens; according to the BLS report there were 2,433 layoff events in December alone.  (Note that this report lists layoffs of any duration; it may be that some job losses recorded are not permanent; that’s an important distinction to make when ferreting out local events.) Contact the BLS and your state labor department for documentation about the employers reporting the job cuts.

And check out the federal labor department’s WARN pages — the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers to provide 60 days notice of plant closings and mass layoffs, among other provisions.  It’s another way to keep tabs on pending job cuts in your area.

This Oshkosh military vehicle in Afghanistan is battle ready.

After years of covering a beat, earnings stories can lose their appeal for some reporters. Many reporters fall into a “plug and play” role. But that’s not what Scott Malone of Reuters did in his piece about Oshkosh Corp. Here the numbers aren’t as important as company investor Carl Icahn’s influence. He writes:

“Icahn, who owns 10 percent of the maker of military vehicles, said Oshkosh management does not do enough to boost shareholder returns. The company promises to provide investors with clearer benchmarks to measure its performance.

‘We heard the message that shareholders would like us to provide more targets to measure our progress,’ Chief Financial Officer David Sagehorn said on a conference call after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. ‘As we go through our fiscal 2012, we will work on ways to provide targets.’”

Scott shared four tips for helping reporters get out of the rut.

Tip 1: Ask, “What’s the real story here?”

“Take a step back and ask yourself if the best story is really in the numbers,” Scott says. “Sometimes it is – if a company falls dramatically short of Wall Street’s expectations, readers will want to know why. But often there’s another story to be told that’s more compelling.”

Tip 2: Listen closely to quarterly conference calls to see if company executives go “off script.”

Do your homework ahead of time to know what the talking points will be so you’ll know if they’re offering new information. “Those small breaks can signal significant changes,” Scott says.

Tip 3:  Boil it down.

Scott says if the numbers are the story, don’t bog readers down trying to report on everything. Instead, focus on one or two numbers then use quotes and anecdotes to explain the rest. “You can convey as much information, and more importantly give the reader a frame to understand them in, that way.”

Tip 4: Go beyond what readers can get elsewhere.

Investors can easily access earnings reports and conference calls online. Therefore you need to “to offer exclusive information or insights, so they have a reason to choose to read your story,” Scott says.

Computer technician Audric Fox of Mitchell Technology Group reinstalls a computer hard drive. Photo: Memphis Daily News

Every February, myriad events nationwide commemorate and celebrate the country’s African American citizens.  And while many observances focus on history, heritage and culture, there are plenty of angles for business writeres, too, in the experiences of black Americans.

Profiles and features of are a natural fit.  If you generally only cover incremental changes at companies run by African American business women and men, like earnings reports or real estate deals, delve deeper for ineresting stories about career trajectories or entrepreneurial endeavors.  I especially like stories about multi-generational businesses because of how the firms are generally so entwined with the history of the region and community and revolved around the basic needs of life, like restaurants and funeral parlors.  Flash forward to last year’s Inc. Top 10 Black Entrepreneurs and you’ll find IT, telecom, real estate and aviation consulting firms.

As this Cincinnati Business Courier article points out,  in some areas still ‘there are not a  lot of multi-generational black businesses.’ Talk to experts about why — lack of access to capital, institutional racism, market factors, and more — and what conditions or factors may be helping to change that.   Dont’ forget to tap academic experts; this article notes that last year for Black History Month the University of Maryland business school held a diversity seminar — the participants and those at similar events in your region would be likely sources.

Unemployment.   African American males — especially young men — are suffering the most from our moribund jobs market, as this Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article reiterates.  And with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment situation report due out Friday (Feb. 3) –  including detailed tables on unemployment by race, sex and age — you might want to start exploring the issue and drill down into numbers for your region via the BLS regional reports.  Talk with employers, job-seekers, educators, advocacy groups, community leaders and others about the roots of this drastic mismatch between the market and the men who aspire to its jobs.  What apprenticeship, mentoring and other programs are businesses creating to address the issue?

The African American consumer.  Despite reporst like this one from the Memphis Daily News about the economy’s effect on black wealth, the African American consumer still has rising purchasing power — check out this Nielsen page about its State of the African American Consumer Report, which details factors like income growth, TV use, mobile phone use, Tweeting and more among the black community.  How are consumer goods firms, advertising agencies, small businesses, service firms and others adapting to the growing market and wooing African American customers?  I’ve been struck, for example, by the candid Ancestry.com commercial where the spokesman says something like “As a black man, let’s face it, I knew where my family tree might lead..”  That’s laying it on the line and in some ways even turning a potential liability for Ancestry.com into an opportunity to connect honestly with potential customers.  How are other companies — from health care to retail — similarly tailoring their messages?

Be sure to check out the U.S. Census Bureau’s Black History Month gallery for a plethora of ideas, many business-related.

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.

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.

By Photobucket user Chris Wendt

Adam Davidson of NPR’s Planet Money produced an Atlantic article and a two-part segment for Planet Money looking at the loss of jobs for unskilled workers and the growing demand for skilled workers. He explored the issue through Standard Motor Products, a 92-year-old, family-run maker of replacement parts for car engines.

In yesterday’s post, Adam offered tips about the need for context when using anecdotes to illustrate the broader trends.

“I like to dig deeply into statistics and understand what economists know about trends,” Adam says. “Then I can choose an anecdote that exemplifies the point better.”

Adam also shared details about how he narrowed the myriad of options down to focusing on South Carolina.

Today’s Tip: Think systematically about where to focus a story.

In setting out to tell the story, Adam says he ruled out New York because of the major changes in the economy during the last 30 years. Then he thought of the Greenville-Spartanburg area in South Carolina, where textile mills had shifted their job requirements from low-skilled workers to highly skilled ones. “There were pretty good jobs for people with more training and skill, and not much for those without,” Adam says.

Adam Davidson

Once he had a location, he needed an industry, he says. He chose auto part manufacturers because of the competition with Chinese imports. He visited three auto parts plants to find a “decent” company “that wasn’t trying to squeeze every penny of profit, one that seemed to care about its employees,” he says. That’s when he landed at Standard Motor Products, which competes directly with China.

He wanted to find an employee at the company in a low-skilled position, which he defines as a job that takes less than a day to learn, he says. He also wanted to focus on someone with the ability to develop skills, but unable to go to school. Knowing he had a radio segment to produce, he also wanted someone who was talkative and open. After meeting a “few dozen Standard workers,” Madelyn “Maddie” Parlier stood out. She was “smart, open, so crystal clear about her condition in the world, her own bad choices, and her challenges,” he says. “I knew she’d play well on the radio and would be a great person to write about.”

By Flickr user Jeff Turner

We may know by Friday if state attorneys general have reached a deal - reportedly worth up to $25 billion – with five major banks accused of deceptive practices that exacerbated foreclosure problems for struggling homeowners. 

The banks involved are Bank of America, Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and Ally Financial Inc.  The value of the deal will depend on how many states sign it; some, like California and Delaware, already have signaled reservations about the terms.  The attorney general for Nevada – where one of the most desperate residential real estate markets exists – last week sent a 38-question memo to negotiators.  Among other things, she questions how the settlement will relieve banks of liability and whether it will undermine the authority of state regulators. 

Twenty-five billion dollars sounds like a lot, but the settlement is likely to help only a fraction of people with mortgage woes.  Here’s a helpful Associated Press story that outlines some of the shortcomings of the deal.   No one who’s lost a home will get it back, but about 750,000 people could receive restittution payments of around $1,800, the AP reports.  Another million homeowners may get a reduction in the principal balance of their current mortgage loan or other restrutcturing.  So overall, it appears the settlement will help less than a quarter of the 8 million homeowners who’ve faced foreclosure since the housing bubble exploded.

Clearly, foreclosure issues will be making headlines again.  Here are a few ideas for finding local angles while we wait for the terms of a settlement to be released:

How many in your state will be helped?  Even if your AG won’t divulge terms of the proposed settlement, he or she must have a pretty good idea of the number of customers of those five banks who are expected to benefit from any deal.  You can put that into context by juxtaposing those figures with RealtyTrac foreclosure data to illustrate the limitations of the deal and make readers aware that the settlement making headlines won’t help everyone. 

Foreclosure update.  Note on the RealtyTrac site the bloodcurdling statement that, nationally,  ”1 in every 634
housing units received a foreclosure filing in December 2011.”   You can mouse over the interactive map to get the rate for your state; in places like Florida, California and Michigan the ratio is far worse. 

This RealtyTrac blog is like a veritable newsfeed of foreclosure stories nationwide; you can mine it for other local story ideas.  This blog post about the ‘Foreclosure bowl’ is eye-catching; it ranks National Football League cities by foreclosure rates; the post says San Francisco is likely to win the dubious honor. 

You could do the same for cities in your region.  I honestly don’t know where the most comprehensive list of foreclosures is housed; you may be able to get that information from your state’s Realtor or real-estate agent trade group.  But check out the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae home sales listings; they’re searchable by ZIP code and the results, complete with address and photo, are quite interesting.  The prices are astounding; you could take several samples and show the history of each house and its sale price over the years, for a detailed look at how the housing bust has affected your market. 

Tips and caveats for buying foreclosures would be a good pre-spring feature.  And get this; according to this HUD website, a number of government agencies also have houses for sale – I guess the ones for sale from the IRS, U.S. Marshals and Customs are probably seizures, but one wonders what the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is doing, dabbling in residential real estate.  Checking out the source of some of these ‘alternative’ listings could lead to some interesting tales.

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.