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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.
Hooked on Kindle
By Chris Roush
Tracking the Business Behind the Tomato
By Jonathan Higuera
Five Questions with Bill Choyke
By Jonathan Higuera
Finding the Economy's Silver Lining
By Dick Weiss
Double Whammy: Oil and Housing
By Jennifer Hopfinger
Five Questions With...Jim Watters
By Kanupriya Vashisht
Jim Watters, business editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune, talks to associate editor Kanupriya Vashisht about his section's coverage emphasis and stories that click with his city's readers.
1You've been in business journalism for two decades now. What are the biggest changes you've seen in business coverage over the years?
There's been a much broader recognition of the importance of good business coverage in a capitalist society. So many major stories -- the savings and loan scandals, Enron, the emergence of biotech drugs, free trade -- have emerged from business beats that news organizations have seen the value of developing expertise. There's also a greater appetite for business information from readers, as reflected in the growth of CNBC, Bloomberg, Marketwatch and other news sources.
2 How big is your current staff?
We have 17 people down from a peak of 22. The major change was that we eliminated our Monday personal technology section, which at one time had three staff members. We have made increased efforts to post breaking news stories online as soon as they happen and on most days have at least one live story on the web site. However online has not really affected our decision making as far as which stories to pursue or how we cover them. In the near future we hope to overhaul the Business page of our web site, which will include the addition of online-only content.
THIS IS ARCHIVED CONTENTVisit our new site at BusinessJournalism.org
3 What are some of the unique attributes of covering the San Diego business scene?
San Diego has a sophisticated audience for news about technology, specifically telecommunications, biotechnology and the defense industry. With the large military presence in the region, San Diego is home to defense contractor SAIC, and other defense companies have major operations here. Qualcomm, the wireless technology giant, has spun off numerous other telecom companies. And we have one of the country's largest clusters of biotech companies. If we write about a military weapon or a new cell phone chip, we have to be accurate and specific, or we will hear about it. In these areas, we have no "general readers."
4 What kinds of business stories really seem to resonate with your readers?
We put a major emphasis on technology news, focusing on the industries mentioned above. We also try to give readers more background on the people behind the news. We have a regular feature called "In Person," which profiles prominent local business figures.
5 Your advice to the next generation of business journalists in the face of uncertainties in the strategy and staffing of publications?
Other than getting a good liberal arts education and learning to be a critical thinker, you should develop multimedia, software, database and Internet skills. With the future of the industry so uncertain, it's good to have lots of options.
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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
Tracking the Business Behind the Tomato
By Jonathan Higuera
Five Questions with Bill Choyke
By Jonathan Higuera
Finding the Economy's Silver Lining
By Dick Weiss
Double Whammy: Oil and Housing
By Jennifer Hopfinger
Five Questions With...Jim Watters
By Kanupriya Vashisht
Jim Watters, business editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune, talks to associate editor Kanupriya Vashisht about his section's coverage emphasis and stories that click with his city's readers.
There's been a much broader recognition of the importance of good business coverage in a capitalist society. So many major stories -- the savings and loan scandals, Enron, the emergence of biotech drugs, free trade -- have emerged from business beats that news organizations have seen the value of developing expertise. There's also a greater appetite for business information from readers, as reflected in the growth of CNBC, Bloomberg, Marketwatch and other news sources.
2 How big is your current staff?
We have 17 people down from a peak of 22. The major change was that we eliminated our Monday personal technology section, which at one time had three staff members. We have made increased efforts to post breaking news stories online as soon as they happen and on most days have at least one live story on the web site. However online has not really affected our decision making as far as which stories to pursue or how we cover them. In the near future we hope to overhaul the Business page of our web site, which will include the addition of online-only content.
THIS IS ARCHIVED CONTENTVisit our new site at BusinessJournalism.org
Visit our new site at BusinessJournalism.org
3 What are some of the unique attributes of covering the San Diego business scene?
San Diego has a sophisticated audience for news about technology, specifically telecommunications, biotechnology and the defense industry. With the large military presence in the region, San Diego is home to defense contractor SAIC, and other defense companies have major operations here. Qualcomm, the wireless technology giant, has spun off numerous other telecom companies. And we have one of the country's largest clusters of biotech companies. If we write about a military weapon or a new cell phone chip, we have to be accurate and specific, or we will hear about it. In these areas, we have no "general readers."
4 What kinds of business stories really seem to resonate with your readers?
We put a major emphasis on technology news, focusing on the industries mentioned above. We also try to give readers more background on the people behind the news. We have a regular feature called "In Person," which profiles prominent local business figures.
5 Your advice to the next generation of business journalists in the face of uncertainties in the strategy and staffing of publications?
Other than getting a good liberal arts education and learning to be a critical thinker, you should develop multimedia, software, database and Internet skills. With the future of the industry so uncertain, it's good to have lots of options.
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism