Visit our new site at BusinessJournalism.org
Reynolds Center Programs
Daylong Workshops
Online Seminars
One-hour Tutorials
Barlett & Steele Awards
Professors Seminar
Strictly Financials Seminar
Research
Covering Business
Starting Out
Business Writing
Business Design
Business Glossary
Ethics
Five Questions with...
Immigration Series
Business Journalism Resources
Job Listings
Academic Programs
Book Listings and Reviews
Scholarships
Calculators
Web Resources
Tutorials
Article Index
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.
Wall Street in Crisis: Coverage Highlights
By Anita Malik, Travis Grabow and Carol Legg
WSJ.com's New Look
By Anita Malik, Travis Grabow and Carol Legg
Covering a Crisis on Wall Street
By Anita Malik
Five Questions with Greg Ip
By Amy Eagleburger
A Destructive Trend
By Chris Roush
A Destructive Trend
By Chris Roush
September 10, 2008
Technology is conspiring to maim the reputation of business journalism.
First, Bloomberg News accidentally posted the obituary of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The story had been updated by the staff and not intended for publication, but one wrong pushed button, and there it was for the world to read.
Then, on Monday, business journalism got a double whammy.
United Airlines’ stock price plummeted after someone found a six-year-old story about its previous stint in bankruptcy court protection on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Web site and believed that it was breaking news. An item about the story was then posted on Bloomberg’s news service.
And then, the Los Angeles Times posted a story on its Web site about a billionaire company executive being sentenced to probation by a judge for a stock option scandal.
There was just one problem: The judge did no such thing. In fact, he rejected the plea bargain. But the story remained on the business news page of the Times site for a couple of hours before it was corrected – and while other business media correctly reported the news.
Now, I’m all for technology and how it’s helped business journalism. I particularly like the ability to read SEC filings on my laptop instead of shuffling through paper documents.
But three such incidents in such a short time is either a trend or an epidemic, and it must be stopped. We’ve gotten too comfortable with the technology we use and need to be more careful.
A few conclusions can be reached by these instances.
The obvious one, in my opinion, is that the cuts on some business news desks are straining the daily performance of delivering quick and timely news. People are human, and mistakes will be made.
But the egg on the collective face of business journalism hurts.
Email this article
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 Anita Malik, Travis Grabow and Carol Legg
WSJ.com's New Look
By Anita Malik, Travis Grabow and Carol Legg
Covering a Crisis on Wall Street
By Anita Malik
Five Questions with Greg Ip
By Amy Eagleburger
A Destructive Trend
By Chris Roush
A Destructive Trend
By Chris Roush
September 10, 2008
Technology is conspiring to maim the reputation of business journalism.
First, Bloomberg News accidentally posted the obituary of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The story had been updated by the staff and not intended for publication, but one wrong pushed button, and there it was for the world to read.
Then, on Monday, business journalism got a double whammy.
United Airlines’ stock price plummeted after someone found a six-year-old story about its previous stint in bankruptcy court protection on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Web site and believed that it was breaking news. An item about the story was then posted on Bloomberg’s news service.
And then, the Los Angeles Times posted a story on its Web site about a billionaire company executive being sentenced to probation by a judge for a stock option scandal.
There was just one problem: The judge did no such thing. In fact, he rejected the plea bargain. But the story remained on the business news page of the Times site for a couple of hours before it was corrected – and while other business media correctly reported the news.
Now, I’m all for technology and how it’s helped business journalism. I particularly like the ability to read SEC filings on my laptop instead of shuffling through paper documents.
But three such incidents in such a short time is either a trend or an epidemic, and it must be stopped. We’ve gotten too comfortable with the technology we use and need to be more careful.
A few conclusions can be reached by these instances.
The obvious one, in my opinion, is that the cuts on some business news desks are straining the daily performance of delivering quick and timely news. People are human, and mistakes will be made.
But the egg on the collective face of business journalism hurts.
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism