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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.
Investigative Dream Team
By Kelly Carr
Reynolds Foundation Gives ASU $5.34 Million for Business Journalism
By Reynolds Center Staff
Open Reporting
By Chris Roush
Behind the Story: BusinessWeek’s “Prisoners of Debt”
By BusinessWeek Staff
Behind the Story: “The Favor Factory” from The Seattle Times
By David Heath
Open Reporting
Chris Roush
November 17, 2008
Earlier this month, business journalists attended a private equity fund’s conference as moderators of panels containing Wall Street heavyweights. This scenario presents a problem for me.
The trouble is that the conference was off-the-record, so business journalists such as CNBC’s David Faber and The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin couldn’t report what was said during their panels, even if it was newsworthy.
That puts business journalists – those in attendance and those who were not invited – in a tough spot.
Let’s start with the business journalists who weren’t invited. I’ve been in such situations before, and it’s no fun when you’re outside an event, knowing that one of your competitors is in the room with all of the access.
To find out what was said, and whether anything was said that was newsworthy, you typically must stand near the door and grovel as people shuffle out. You’re definitely at a disadvantage when it comes to reporting the event.
Then there are the journalists who were in the room. They’ve gained an entrée into the inner sanctum of Wall Street movers and shakers just by being in the room. But the journalists are paying an ethical price. Their full-time job is to report the news, but in this case, they’re putting that job aside so they can schmooze. I wonder when they’re putting that reporter hat back on.
Of course, if someone said something newsworthy, they can always go up to them once the panel is over and ask them for on-the-record statements. But the source can always tell them to take a hike.
There’s an easy solution, one that I’d like to see codes of ethics address. Business journalists should never participate in off-the-record functions, even if they’re rubbing elbows with sources. It presents the appearance to the public that we’re in cahoots with the folks that we cover.
And given everything going on in Wall Street these days, I’m not sure that’s a perception – either real or conceived – that business journalists want.
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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 Kelly Carr
Reynolds Foundation Gives ASU $5.34 Million for Business Journalism
By Reynolds Center Staff
Open Reporting
By Chris Roush
Behind the Story: BusinessWeek’s “Prisoners of Debt”
By BusinessWeek Staff
Behind the Story: “The Favor Factory” from The Seattle Times
By David Heath
Open Reporting
Chris Roush
November 17, 2008
Earlier this month, business journalists attended a private equity fund’s conference as moderators of panels containing Wall Street heavyweights. This scenario presents a problem for me.
The trouble is that the conference was off-the-record, so business journalists such as CNBC’s David Faber and The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin couldn’t report what was said during their panels, even if it was newsworthy.
That puts business journalists – those in attendance and those who were not invited – in a tough spot.
Let’s start with the business journalists who weren’t invited. I’ve been in such situations before, and it’s no fun when you’re outside an event, knowing that one of your competitors is in the room with all of the access.
To find out what was said, and whether anything was said that was newsworthy, you typically must stand near the door and grovel as people shuffle out. You’re definitely at a disadvantage when it comes to reporting the event.
Then there are the journalists who were in the room. They’ve gained an entrée into the inner sanctum of Wall Street movers and shakers just by being in the room. But the journalists are paying an ethical price. Their full-time job is to report the news, but in this case, they’re putting that job aside so they can schmooze. I wonder when they’re putting that reporter hat back on.
Of course, if someone said something newsworthy, they can always go up to them once the panel is over and ask them for on-the-record statements. But the source can always tell them to take a hike.
There’s an easy solution, one that I’d like to see codes of ethics address. Business journalists should never participate in off-the-record functions, even if they’re rubbing elbows with sources. It presents the appearance to the public that we’re in cahoots with the folks that we cover.
And given everything going on in Wall Street these days, I’m not sure that’s a perception – either real or conceived – that business journalists want.
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism