Ever wonder...?

This week, Robert Smith of National Public Radio answered the question: “How do you launder money?” Using the recent money-laundering story involving New Jersey mayors and rabbis as a news peg, his entertaining and informative segment walks listeners through the steps.


Today’s Tip: If you’re wondering about something, chances are your audience is, too. Start by asking the obvious question, and see where it leads you.

Asking those sorts of questions has led to Pulitzer Prizes for at least two reporters:

• Gilbert M. Gaul, then a reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, asked what happens to donated blood. The resulting investigative series won for public service in 1990.

• Richard Read of The (Portland) Oregonian tracked 20 tons of potatoes from an Oregon farm to a McDonald’s in Indonesia. That led to a series looking at the impact of the Asian financial crisis on the Pacific Northwest’s economy and a Pulitzer Prize in 1999.

More recent examples include stories asking what happens to recycled computer parts. The answer: some have led to water contamination in Asia.

Not every obvious question will lead to a Pulitzer, but like Smith, you could have some fun while you search for the answer.

What's the context?

A proposed $50 million increase in federal funding for the Legal Services Corp., a nonprofit provider of legal services to the poor, prompted stories by The Washington Times and CBS News. The Times article focuses on a decorative natural-stone wall in one Legal Services office estimated to cost $150,000 and on 100 unused casino hotel rooms that the agency booked. The CBS News segment shares news of interest-free loans to employees. Both stories illustrate the inefficiencies, but the big difference is context.

Today’s Tip: Ask the right questions to add context and background to stories.

The Washington Times piece by Amanda Carpenter tells readers this isn’t the first time the legal agency has been accused of improperly spending money. That history provides a different perspective and makes the story more interesting.
You can apply the same tip to most business news stories. For instance, with a bankruptcy filing, is this the first? How many other companies in the industry have filed? Merger: first offer? New company executive: revolving door? Earnings: downward trend?

Writing Standout Ledes

Jonathan Weisman of The Wall Street Journal offers readers a snappy, relevant and insightful lede in his article about federal budget cuts: "With the budget deficit soaring toward $2 trillion, the Department of Justice has figured out how to play its part: double-sided photocopying." He narrows a list of 77 cuts by focusing on items with which his audience can identify: one-sided photocopies, unused e-mail accounts. And he creates suspense and surprise all within one sentence.

Today’s Tip: Look for the outrageous example that will resonate with your audience; it might just be your lede.

You can also employ storytelling techniques such as irony and suspense. Weisman keeps his audience guessing -- but not too long -- until his third-paragraph nut graf.

If ledes trouble you, seek out a “lede coach.” Early in my career, my business editor teamed me with a veteran reporter known for his crafty ledes. After a few sessions and some major rewrites, I was ready to fly solo.

Tapping Associations

Washington Post reporter Emma Carew’s article about a boost in direct sellers helps readers understand why they may be getting more invitations to such events.

Most of the companies she cites aren’t publicly traded, which means gathering information can sometimes be tricky. To balance her piece, she cites data from the Direct Selling Association.

Today’s Tip: Use associations to help with your reporting.

These groups often track numbers and can give you broader perspectives on what’s happening in some industries. You can search sites such as Weddle's and the American Society of Association Executives to find associations.

Don’t Forget to Ask Why

Motoko Rich, a reporter for The New York Times, found that Target customers are tossing more in their carts besides cleaning supplies and toiletries. They’re also buying books.

In her story about how the retailer has helped boost sales of relatively unknown authors and books, she cites an example of one book that sold only 2,000 copies when first published two years ago. After hitting Target’s Bookmarked Book Club, the book hit The New York Times' trade paperback fiction best-seller list.

Today’s Tip: Ask “Why?”

“It seems that a lot of interesting marketing stories come from simply asking the basic "why" question,” Motoko said in an email. “Sometimes the answer is not that interesting, but in this case it really was striking.”

Motoko said the story started when she noted increased sales of "Sarah's Key" and called the publisher to ask why. She found that Target has become a leading seller on some titles.

“I thought our readers, who were accustomed to reading stories about Barnes & Noble or Amazon or independent bookstores, would be surprised to learn that Target is such a large outlet for books, and not just of big names like Nora Roberts or James Patterson,” she said.

Balance in Business Forecasts

Sean Sposito balances car dealers’ expected sales with other sources in this article for The Boston Globe. While he cites a pending sales tax increase and the roll out of the government’s incentive program as evidence that consumers will buy, he notes that limited qualifications and the recession may squash those forecasts.

Today’s Tip: Unlike weather forecasts, business forecasts need balance.

To be a useful consumer piece, you have to provide context. Seek sources until you feel that you have balance in your piece. Don’t forget to step back on the final read to ensure you didn’t create a promotional piece.

Report Details for Depth

Steve Proffitt, a reporter at KAWC in Yuma, Ariz., offers listeners squealing wheels, analogies and irony in his segment about GM’s new testing site in Arizona. He turns a business piece into an entertaining segment that still offers all the details that the audience wants: 100 jobs, free land, etc.

Today’s Tip: Ditch the shirt and tie and have some fun.

Business reporting doesn’t have to be boring. Liven your stories with great details that help create images for your audience. For example, Proffitt describes the bumpy test site as a “highway engineer’s nightmare.” Combine the “show don’t tell” and “report with your senses” rules to gather details that will paint pictures for your readers.

The Big Picture

This ABC News segment explores whether consecutive stock market rallies indicate an economic recovery. The reporter uses footage from Capitol Hill as well as corporate earnings stories and economists to answer the question.

Today’s Tip: Think of daily news stories as possible pieces to a larger puzzle.

Stop to think about a broader impact and ask what it all means. For instance, with earnings, do you see a pattern among particular types of companies? With commercial real estate vacancies, are certain areas more susceptible? If so, where do people in those areas work? There may not always be a connection, but at least take the time to think about the possibility.

$10 Billion in Fraudulent Flips

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune launched a six-day series and interactive online package looking at how flipping houses led to inflated prices and $450 million in defaulted mortgage loans. Using public records to get mortgage filings and deeds, the paper concluded that the fraudulent flip transactions totaled about $10 billion.

Investigative reporter Matthew Doig said the story started when a county property appraiser analysis showed frequent sales of certain properties as well as repeat buyers and sellers. And Michael Braga’s experience covering real estate helped them see the connections between the parties.

“He has a ‘Rain Man’ quality with a memory that serves him well. He knows all the players,” Doig said.

The paper also created its own database of 19 million property sales records dating to January 2000. The paper’s Web site provides details about the reporters’ calculations.

Today’s Tip: Public records searches can shed light on business connections because sometimes companies use several names for various partnerships.

The Florida Division of Corporations’ Sunbiz Web site helped the Herald-Tribune connect the flippers. To get started on your own investigation, check out this toolbox from the Society of Professional Journalists that lists several online options for accessing public records.

The Details in Earnings

Sales, profits and play center counts?

This earnings season, Ashley Milne-Tyte of the America Public Media chose a different number as the focus of her segment: the number of children using Ikea’s free childcare service called Smaland. According to the analyst quoted, the service has given the company a competitive edge during the recession.


Today’s Tip: Keep your eye out for details that help support earnings performance.


For instance, did you note more items on the clothing store’s clearance racks? Have grocery chains added more shopping carts as more people cook at home? Think about what information you can gather to help illustrate the numbers.

Show - Don't Tell - With Graphics

The old cliché says a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, so is a graphic.

The Arizona Republic publishes monthly economic data such as the unemployment rate, gas prices and home sales in charts on one page. Nothing says job growth has declined better than a downward sloping line.

Today’s Tip: Rely on charts instead of text for numbers-heavy stories. Think about the indicators that are most relevant in your community and use a graphic form – pie chart, line graph, etc. – that best illustrates them.

However, resist the temptation to “steal from your data” with introductory text that restates the numbers. Remember: graphics are one of the best ways to get mind-numbing numbers out of a narrative. Instead, seek an economist at a local university, state economic-development agency, bank or your regional Federal Reserve Board office to explain the broader implications of the data.

The $4.9 Billion Man

“Coral Gables banker Alfred R. Camner is the $4.9 billion man.” That’s Martha Brannigan’s lede on one of two retrospective articles she did on the failed BankUnited for The Miami Herald. The articles describe how BankUnited provided fat salaries and bonuses for Camner and his family and paid his law firm, also run by kin, more than $30.9 million in legal fees. And now, the bank's failed lending strategy will end up costing the FDIC almost $5 billion.

Today’s Tip: Use retrospective articles to put current news in context. For publicly traded companies, look for sources such as investors with large amounts of stock or corporate governance experts, such as The Corporate Library in Portland, Me. SEC documents, available via the online EDGAR database, can help sort out executive compensation and family connections among company officials.

In this example, Brannigan uses a writing technique often employed by The Wall Street Journal – telling the story through one key player. In this case, it’s the bank’s founder.

An Excuse to Twitter at Your Desk

By monitoring Twitter, aviation reporter Julie Johnsson of the Chicago Tribune learned about a YouTube video involving a dispute between United Airlines and Dave Carroll, a passenger who says the airline damaged his guitar. A later tweet also gave her an end to the story – a donation to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz from United in Carroll’s name.

“I learned about the donation Friday night, via a tweet from United. Coincidentally, I first heard about Dave Carroll’s video from aviation contacts on Twitter,” Julie says in an e-mail. “So, monitoring social media is rapidly becoming an essential part of beat coverage for me -- and also a handy excuse if an editor walks by while I’m on Twitter.”

Today’s Tip: Follow what’s being said about companies you cover on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. Information that doesn’t make it into press releases may land on these sites and provide you with a solid scoop.

For a great primer on how to use Twitter and helper programs such as TweetDeck and Twhirl, see "The Mossberg Solution" from July 14 on wsj.com.

News releases – what are they good for?

Greg Allen’s piece for NPR looks at how the economy has helped spike enrollment at Miami Dade College as unemployed workers seek less expensive ways to get retrained.

The segment follows a news release by Miami Dade on May 26 that because of decreased state funding, “close to 30,000 students will not be able to take the classes they need and more than 5,000 will not be able to register for any classes this fall.” However, Allen’s story uses that information as well as sources from other organizations and colleges to provide a big-picture look at the problems community colleges face.

Today’s Tip: Increase the value of news releases by thinking more broadly about what the story is. If one company or school is experiencing something, is anyone else? Remember: It may take two to tango, but you need at least three for a trend.

$1 million+ salaries at nonprofits

John Ryan of KUOW-Puget Sound Public Radio tracked salaries at area nonprofit hospitals and found that many executives earned at least $1 million a year as their hospitals faced layoffs and budget cuts.
Ryan used the 990 tax returns that nonprofits must file with the IRS to collect much of the data for the story, which included an online list of the top 51 salaries. He also cited salaries for other hospital workers to put the numbers in perspective and included comments from the head of Charity Navigator, a watchdog group. Ryan provides more details about how he reported the segment.

Today’s Tip: Like publicly traded companies, nonprofit companies have to keep a public paper trail. You can access these files by registering for free at Guidestar.

If the filings on Guidestar aren’t as recent as you might like, you can contact the hospital or other nonprofit for any more recent filings, which are public documents.

In addition to salary information, hospital 990s can also be useful in determining other financial details, including the institutions’ investment income and its highest-paid contractor. For more information on dissecting 990s, check out these articles by Bill Smith and Chris Roush in the nonprofits section of businessjournalism.org.

A $5,080 visit to a strip club

The Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky found fertile ground for stories when it looked into spending at four organizations that receive public funds. Through open records requests, reporters and editors found that oversight of spending at the agencies was lacking, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel and entertainment expenditures for top executives.


Sharon Walsh, enterprise/projects editor, says the investigations started when beat reporter Jennifer Hewlett received tips about spending by executives at the local airport. The paper submitted open records requests for officials’ credit card expenses. Among the charges: $5,080 for a visit to a strip club by three airport execs.

After the airport series, the paper requested records from the public library, the Kentucky League of Cities and the Kentucky Association of Counties. “We started looking at a number of other boards throughout the state. Each one we looked at, we found interesting ways of spending taxpayers’ money,” Walsh says.

Today’s Tip: Quasi-governmental agencies often provide business services and operate with minimal oversight. Open records requests can shine a light on their expenditures. The Student Press Law Center provides an easy-to-use form to generate a state open records request.

Once they had analyzed the records, Walsh says reporters spoke with similar agencies in other cities to determine if the costs were standard – they weren’t. Walsh says the paper also triple checks stories for accuracy. In addition, readers could search the expenses for each agency themselves in an online database powered by Caspio software.

The stories have led to several resignations, a criminal investigation and a state audit at three of the four organizations, Walsh says. “The most satisfying and rewarding thing about it has been community reaction,” she says. “A lot of change resulted from our work.”

What’s the behavior behind the numbers?

This segment from ABC News’ “Nightline” on the increase in bank revenue from overdraft fees offers a good example of how to transform dry survey data into an informative consumer piece. “Nightline” took a report from Moebs Services to shed light on how banks are maximizing their income from these fees at the expense of consumers.

At about seven and a half minutes, the segment is long, but the sources and visuals are varied enough to keep the piece moving. Particularly inventive is the use of a snippet of video from a “Seinfeld” episode about Jerry’s embarrassment about bouncing a check.

Note also the balance in the piece: both the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Federation of America offer comments.

Today’s Tip: Avoid the temptation to just report the numbers in survey releases. Consider how the numbers translate into human behavior.

One way to get at the human element is to think about how to illustrate the story with photos or video of real people. Another way is to brainstorm what the data means to your audience. Does the latest data on credit-card usage show that people are carrying more cash? If so, are ATMs running out of cash more frequently, and are small businesses’ cash deposits up? Are people canceling services such as Netflix that auto bill each month? Talk with experts about what the behaviors are behind the numbers.

Look for the lighter side

AP writer Chip Cutter’s article on people doing their own auto repairs offers a lighter note in the midst of earnings season and economic reports.
The article talks about people attempting to repair cars themselves only to wind up spending even more money. It fits in with many of the “how people are faring in the economy” pieces out there, but the writing style, examples and quotes move the piece along quickly. With nine sources and about 800 words, the article serves as a 30-minute sitcom in the middle of a lineup of dramas.

One note: The story could have been strengthened with sales information from a publicly traded auto-parts retailer such as AutoZone Inc.

Today’s Tip: Keep your ears open when you’re in the Y locker room or the local coffee shop. An anecdote from one person may turn into a brite or trend piece with further reporting.

Stay Organized to Spin Stories Forward

Meg James, who covers the business of TV for the Los Angeles Times, took years of data and reporting knowledge to transform a piece about Univision’s refinancing of its debt into a more comprehensive article.

Meg says she’s covered the Spanish-language broadcaster since 2002. When the company refinanced its debt and secured contracts with various cable companies, Meg says she decided to sweep those recent events into one story.

In less than three days, she talked to debt analysts and debt-rating agencies, called various banks that owned the debt and pulled together the story for a Monday business section.

How was she able to turn it around so quickly?
• She has covered the company for years.
• Her computer files are organized by topic, such as Spanish media and financial reports.

Today’s Tip: Keep your files organized so that you have handy the context to spin a story forward.

Meg says her organizational habit started early in her reporting career after she saw the stories that The Miami Herald Sunday magazine was able to do. Her “smaller paper did Polaroid snapshots. At The Miami Herald magazine, they pulled it all together and made it all make sense to me,” she says. “…The bulk of readers haven’t been following (a story) from day to day.”

And she says, “If you’re going to do a bigger picture story, you really have to spin it forward to give the story the context it needs to survive in the 24-hour news cycle. …You owe readers your analytical mind to be able to say what will happen down the road.”

Stepping back to avoid the routine

CBS News’ segment on Sears Holdings Corp.’s strategy to weather the recession offers a step-back option for an earnings story. Listeners get all of the figures they expect – e.g. sales are down about 12 percent, but the piece isn’t numbers heavy. The segment uses numbers to move the story forward and focus on company plans to improve sales. It also does a good job of providing pithy quotes from executives and a retail consultant.

Today’s Tip: When assessing earnings reports for possible stories, look for broader themes, such as the impact of economic trends or evidence of changes in consumer behavior.

Too often, reporters rely on templates for earnings or retail-sales stories, but we need to look for alternative ways to share financial data. Put the numbers in a table or graphic, and use what they tell you to tell a story with real people and a narrative flow that makes a point. Not all earnings stories will merit such treatment; some may be worth just the table.

When looking for those earnings stories that cry out for more, find the consumer connection or the economic connection.

Effective Profiles

Sarah Huylett’s segment on Michigan Radio provided a great profile of Roger Penske, who plans to buy Saturn from GM. The profile excels because it includes numerous voices to provide different perspectives of Penske, it uses “show not tell” effectively and it stays focused on its theme: Here’s the guy who’s going to try to change domestic auto making.

Today’s Tip: Use examples to illustrate points in profiles.

Huylett’s piece provides enough information for a listener to get a sense of who he is. She sticks to examples to show his character. For instance, one person notes his humility by citing an example of him – a billionaire – cleaning up coffee cups after a meeting. She illustrates his love of Detroit through an example where he drove around looking for graffiti to clean up before the Super Bowl game.

Most people are multifaceted so you need several sources to provide a good look at someone’s life. But don’t let those sources get away with just giving you adjectives. Ask them for specifics. You also have to ensure you stay focused on your theme so that your profile doesn’t become a biography.

Make Numbers Relevant

ABC News Radio won an Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for an investigative piece about the Big 3 executives arriving via private jets in Washington, D.C., to ask for bailout money.

The segment is full of detail. For instance, in conveying that one executive’s round-trip flight cost $20,000, the segment noted that a first class ticket on Northwest Airlines would have cost $837. It also noted that the cost represented about a half-year’s salary for an autoworker.

Today’s Tip: Make Numbers Relevant

This piece excels because it doesn’t just say that the executives who are paid millions each year flew in planes that cost $30 million to beg for billions from the government. It uses irony and juxtaposition to illustrate the point.

Find correlations between numbers and think about how you can illustrate them. For example, say you’re writing about a pending skyscraper that will be 725 feet tall. You can illustrate by saying it will be roughly half the size of the Sears Tower. Use the same technique when you’re thinking about money.

Find the Business Angle

Michael Jackson’s death last week didn’t – on the surface – provide many headline options for the business section. But when memorabilia sales skyrocketed, the business desk finally got its shot.

Writer Kimberly A.C. Wilson at The Oregonian in Portland took the sales spike story idea one step further to provide a consumer piece for readers. Her article offers tips from the Better Business Bureau for those looking to collect Jackson items.

One note, however. The story only has one source. While the BBB is a reliable source, the story could have been even stronger with deeper sourcing. Even how-to pieces benefit from having several credible voices.

Today’s Tip: Don’t bypass a major news event because it doesn’t seem to fit the business page.

In my college days of yearning to be a business reporter, I griped about an internship assignment to cover the birth of a panda bear at a local zoo. What did that have to do with business? A lot: increased ticket sales, sponsorships, marketing, etc.

Business reporting isn’t just earnings, layoffs and mergers. Look at major news events to see how you can provide a different perspective for your readers.

Make It Personal

Bernard Madoff’s 150-year sentencing generated tons of news headlines. The Philadelphia Inquirer transformed the national story into a local one by focusing on a family that had lost money.

Inquirer reporter Bob Fernandez says his editor approached him after speaking with the DeVitas, who described themselves as “basic” people who’d been investing with Madoff for years. Bob traveled with the DeVitas to New York, interviewing them on the train ride. He waited outside the courthouse and then followed them to a rally.

While writing the story, Bob said he had two goals:

• Keep the focus on the son and mother. He didn’t want the piece to go too heavily into Madoff’s history. That meant he also had to keep his interviewees focused so he could get all of the details.
• Have fun with the writing. It took a little persuasion to keep “The Great Swindler” in his lead, he says.

Today's Tip: Make It Personal

When writing about a large topic or issue, take time to find someone that has been directly affected and can personify the subject you’re addressing. Social networking sites such as Facebook and alumni chatboards are a good way to find the human perspective, especially when you’re writing on deadline.