Reporter Lays Publication to Rest in Effective Prose

By Dick Weiss
August 24, 2007

Alas, while we were distractedly wringing our hands over the fate of The Wall Street Journal another iconic American newspaper was in far more jeopardy. I speak, of course, of The Weekly World News, the newspaper that broke the story that Elvis is alive and well and living in Kalamazoo and that Hillary Clinton adopted an alien baby. The World News' final edition hits the newsstands Aug. 27, but not without a proper business obituary -- a delightful piece by Peter Carlson of The Washington Post. My other two picks come from The Philadelphia Inquirer which manages to ratchet up the outrage factor over what's supposed to be a feel good event: National Night Out, and the Los Angeles Times with its profile of perplexing media mogul Sumner Redstone.

Click here to send me an e-mail with some great business stories you've written or seen. You could see your story touted here as one of the best in the nation.

Note: Each headline contains a link so that you can read the stories online. Some sites will require you to register first. It's worth taking the time.   

3 Nonprofit Is Lucrative For Founder

Andrew Maykuth of The Philadelphia Inquirer

National Night Out is all about getting to know your neighbors and preventing crime. The first goal is easy to see and achieve. But the second goal remains elusive, the Inquirer has found. Even so, the founder of National Night is highly compensated and with tax dollars to boot. Here's a good example of a reporter looking beyond the hype and asking some basic questions about whether a program is really effective. Maykuth makes some interesting comparisons with other non-profits and the salaries of other public officials. He leaves it to readers to draw their own conclusions.

2 Infighting Simmers Within The Redstone Dynasty

Michael Hiltzik and Claudia Eller of the Los Angeles Times

Sumner Redstone is worth $8 billion. So why's he so unhappy and why is his family so unhappy with him? Those are the questions Hiltzik and Eller address in this story. While they can't provide all the answers, their analytical and entertaining approach is compelling. The two play the irony card well. Redstone is a man of contradictions talented enough to be successful at business but little else. This profile works because the reporters pay attention to the smallest details that taken together define the man and his times.

1 All The News That Seemed Unfit To Print

Peter Carlson of The Washington Post

Carlson has written about a supermarket tabloid that is wildly outrageous. But what makes the story so effective is that it is understated. The headlines, the stories, the quotations from the editors speak largely for themselves and they are laugh out loud funny. This story is lengthy, 2,800 words, but it leaves you wanting more.

Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism