Getting Settled

By Kelly Carr
November 12, 2008 04:53 PM

After years of working as a government reporter, Erik Ortiz switched roles last September to cover business for The Press of Atlantic City. But just a few days into the new job, which presented a major learning curve, he was overwhelmed.

Ortiz needed to identify the major players on his beat, understand how to read complicated financial statements and navigate through documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission. He had to master the lingo, identify the major issues the paper had already covered and know what big stories might be on the horizon.

“There is a lot of business jargon out there and it is overwhelming,” Ortiz said. “In the first few months I felt like I was walking around blind, not really knowing what things meant.  At first, I was definitely intimidated.”

He wasn’t quite sure where to begin, but quickly realized he would have to take responsibility and educate himself in his new role. So he got moving.

Ortiz sought help from a colleague on the business desk, rapid-firing questions to her so he could learn about the Atlantic City business community. He scoured the paper’s archives to get caught up on coverage and attached himself to an accounting dictionary to increase his vocabulary. He covered stories that would help him dive into unfamiliar territory and brought home reports for late night reading.

Ortiz soon penned a story that explained how New Jersey electricity was sold and how consumers were affected. He wanted to make a complicated topic easy to digest. He used his newbie mindset to thoroughly research the issues and tell the story in simple terms, language that his readers could easily grasp.

“I was able to decipher complicated utility stuff and pass it onto readers as something as simple as, ‘this is how much your rate will increase,’” Ortiz said. “I was opening my eyes to this and everything was new to me, which allowed me to explain it to them in terms that I had it explained to me.”

After a year on the business desk, Ortiz says he’s still learning. But his constant drive to educate himself has brought confidence and an understanding of his territory, allowing him to cover vital stories for his New Jersey readers.

In October, Ortiz wrote a poignant story detailing how difficult it is for the middle class to achieve the “American Dream.” He also navigated through the PACER database to uncover that a furniture seller, Oskar Huber, had filed for bankruptcy.

The days of feeling lost on the business desk are not a distant memory for Ortiz. If you’ve recently been moved to the business desk or have decided to take a gig as a first-time business reporter, Ortiz knows just how lost you can feel.

To get adjusted to the beat he suggests first investing in a dictionary of accounting terms, which he admits has saved him many times and is his business coverage “bible.” Next, talk endlessly to your colleagues and use their knowledge to get you up to speed. Pour through the paper’s archives (Ortiz looked at all the stories that were done in the last year to understand pressing issues) and continually network with potential sources. Don’t be shy; ask the new companies you cover to give you a tutorial that explains the operations.

In addition, Ortiz suggests familiarizing yourself with these Web sites:

• Public companies file reports to the SEC regularly, and it’s important to familiarize yourself with the different types of forms they file. Forbes’ Investopedia explains the differences.
• Bankruptcies seem all too common these days among companies. Using the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is one easy way to get bankruptcy filings. Once you’re registered, it costs 8 cents for each page in a document you access. Well worth it.
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) keeps track of which banks in state, metro and county areas are the biggest in terms of deposits. The latest numbers for fiscal year 2008 were updated in October:
• The Associated Press has been writing Q&As called “Meltdown 101,” easy-to-understand explanations about the current economic crisis. Topics include credit default swaps, mortgages and the Federal Reserve.  To find, Google “meltdown 101” and “AP.”
• For glossaries of common business terms, the Knight Center keeps a list, as well as links to other lists by the NY Times and Bloomberg.

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