When the Story Goes National

By Jonathan Higuera
January 4, 2008 11:41 AM

I always thought the country's contentious immigration debate was as much a business story as social phenomenon. Others must agree.

Arizona's new employer sanctions law, which took effect Jan. 1, has drawn national media attention from the likes of BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and The New York Times.

They've parachuted in to cover the legislation that could put a company out of business if it is caught twice knowingly hiring workers who are in this country illegally.

By and large, the national outlets have documented how businesses are reacting, and it's not pretty. One Carl's Jr. franchise owner says he'll build his next 25 stores in Texas instead of Arizona next year unless he receives some assurances that he won't be put out of business if he inadvertently hires an undocumented worker.

A study, released earlier this year by the University of Arizona, reported that the state's economy could suffer an 8.2 percent drop in output if non-citizen, foreign-born workers were removed from the workforce. That includes both legal and illegal workers.

Another employer told Miriam Jordan of The Wall Street Journal that he's already fired several Hispanic workers in anticipation of the law. Yet another, a steel fabricator, explained why his company's future expansion will be in Mexico rather than Arizona because labor costs would be too great without undocumented labor.

For local reporters who follow these developments daily, the national attention is both welcome and a bane. It's satisfying to know the issues you cover have gained the interest and following of a national audience. But, it also means that the competition is stiffer, and local stories are now being scrutinized against those by national outlets.

Diane Solis, immigration reporter for The Dallas Morning News, has been on both sides. As a former Wall Street Journal reporter and in her current position, she's been shot into areas to cover stories that warranted her editors' attention. On the flip side, she's also had the national press descend onto stories on her beat.

Her advice: Take a deep breath, step back and try to see the bigger picture of where your story fits in.

"I stay calm," she says. "It's a more competitive situation but if you are there every day, it gives you an edge. You hope you have not missed the forest for the trees, which unfortunately happens."

Other reporters say it's a given that national stories will have a different tone and even angle. After all, they have a broader audience to serve.

But more often than not, those national stories are following the footprint of the daily coverage, says Daniel Gonzalez, an immigration reporter at The Arizona Republic.

"Usually I know much better what's going on than they do," he said of national reporters who parachute in for a particular issue. "It's routine to see my stories get picked up by other papers."

Gonzalez admits, however, that national publications, by simply thinking "national," sometimes do capture an issue better than local outlets. "Where local papers used to get hurt is that it would cover stories incrementally and not take time to step back and take a broader look," he said.

When it comes to Arizona's new law, which some are calling the "business death penalty," the national spotlight and a broader look from all outlets is warranted.

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