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Workshop Registration
The Reynolds Center has announced its 2009-10 free workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
Online Seminars
The Reynolds Center registration for Fall 2009 free online seminars.
Quoting Message Boards
By Chris Roush
Covering Dollars and Doctors
By Ashley Macha
Know Your Customer
By Andre Jackson
Open Secrets and No Surprises
By Alec Klein
Agriculture Coverage
By Dick Weiss
Ebbers Verdict Game Plan Pays Dividends
By Vandana Sinha
March 16, 2005 11:01 AM
Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers may have heard his guilty verdict Tuesday in a New York courtroom. But in the newsroom of the hometown paper of WorldCom's former headquarters, the business team had nailed down its coverage strategy 11 days ago.
On March 4, five reporters, two editors and one designer of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., huddled on how to best cover the verdict from Ebbers' six-week trial, and that advance planning helped give the out-of-town team an edge in its coverage.
The journalists waited eight days for the jury to decide, but they were well prepared when it finally happened.
"There are always going to be variations and adjustments," says Scott Waller, business editor of the Clarion-Ledger, the hometown paper for WorldCom's former headquarters. "But having a plan in place was good for us."
The team had already sketched out the half-dozen stories, and who would write them the day of the jury's decision. That way, when Ebbers was convicted yesterday on nine counts of fraud, conspiracy and false statements -- crimes that could cost him the rest of his life in prison -- they could negotiate enough print space within hours to share the local community's reactions.
By deciding early to focus their coverage on local shareholders and employees, they could also shield themselves from the national media spectacle that often follows this kind of news.
"That's the crux of how we covered the verdict all along," Waller says. "This is kind of a story about them. They're vested in some fashion as a result of WorldCom being based in Mississippi."
But he didn't miss the national story either. Thanks to contacts he had made when he was covering the trial in New York, Waller received calls from counterparts at USA Today and The New York Post with a heads up about the verdict, complete with quotes. Yesterday, the reporter covering the trial at the Gannett News Service, recently back from New York herself, sent Waller dispatches as well.
As a result, Waller managed to stay on top of a story that unfolded more than 1,000 miles away. Click here to read The Clarion-Ledger's coverage of the Ebbers verdict.
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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
The Reynolds Center has announced its 2009-10 free workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
The Reynolds Center registration for Fall 2009 free online seminars.
By Chris Roush
Covering Dollars and Doctors
By Ashley Macha
Know Your Customer
By Andre Jackson
Open Secrets and No Surprises
By Alec Klein
Agriculture Coverage
By Dick Weiss
Ebbers Verdict Game Plan Pays Dividends
By Vandana SinhaMarch 16, 2005 11:01 AM
Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers may have heard his guilty verdict Tuesday in a New York courtroom. But in the newsroom of the hometown paper of WorldCom's former headquarters, the business team had nailed down its coverage strategy 11 days ago.
On March 4, five reporters, two editors and one designer of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., huddled on how to best cover the verdict from Ebbers' six-week trial, and that advance planning helped give the out-of-town team an edge in its coverage.
The journalists waited eight days for the jury to decide, but they were well prepared when it finally happened.
"There are always going to be variations and adjustments," says Scott Waller, business editor of the Clarion-Ledger, the hometown paper for WorldCom's former headquarters. "But having a plan in place was good for us."
The team had already sketched out the half-dozen stories, and who would write them the day of the jury's decision. That way, when Ebbers was convicted yesterday on nine counts of fraud, conspiracy and false statements -- crimes that could cost him the rest of his life in prison -- they could negotiate enough print space within hours to share the local community's reactions.
By deciding early to focus their coverage on local shareholders and employees, they could also shield themselves from the national media spectacle that often follows this kind of news.
"That's the crux of how we covered the verdict all along," Waller says. "This is kind of a story about them. They're vested in some fashion as a result of WorldCom being based in Mississippi."
But he didn't miss the national story either. Thanks to contacts he had made when he was covering the trial in New York, Waller received calls from counterparts at USA Today and The New York Post with a heads up about the verdict, complete with quotes. Yesterday, the reporter covering the trial at the Gannett News Service, recently back from New York herself, sent Waller dispatches as well.
As a result, Waller managed to stay on top of a story that unfolded more than 1,000 miles away. Click here to read The Clarion-Ledger's coverage of the Ebbers verdict.
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism