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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.
Proxy Digging
By Chris Roush
Savvy Spending
By Jennifer Hopfinger
Takeaways from the Cramer Interview
By Andrew Leckey
Faces of the Crisis
By Alec Klein
Strategizing the Blog
By Anita Malik
Winners and Losers
By Chris Roush
February 24, 2009
During times of economic crisis - such as the one that we’re currently encountering - there are always winners and losers in business.
Bank investors? Definitely losers. Hedge funds that bet against the mortgage industry? Definitely winners.
The same appears to be occurring in the world of business journalism. The winners are separating themselves from the losers. The determining factor, it appears, is a commitment to providing the space and prominence that stories about the business and economic world now demand in the media.
So, here are my top three winners, and my top three losers, in business journalism.
The Winners
1. The Wall Street Journal- No publication has done more to explain the current economic crisis than The Journal. It’s beefing up its reporting staff under orders from owner Rupert Murdoch. I was initially skeptical of The Journal and its changes, but I now find it to be clicking on all cylinders. A story last week about a foreclosure court in Florida is indicative of the paper’s power in telling a story that paints a larger picture.
2. American City Business Journals - The owner of 40 weekly business newspapers across the country is fairing better than its daily competitors. Chairman Ray Shaw recently told me that subscriptions were up for the company in 2008, while advertising revenue was down just 2 percent, while other papers saw double-digit drops. The reason? These papers know their audience, and they’re giving those businesses coverage that they can use.
3. CNBC and Fox Business Network - I’ll freely admit that I’m no big fan of either. The blustering and postering turns me off, and most of the on-air talent seem to be only trying to promote themselves. But they’ve struck a nerve with consumers, and both have seen their on-air viewership and Web audience rise.
The Losers
1. Daily newspaper business sections - Their struggles have been widely reported, but daily business newspapers are making cuts to business news sections that will hurt them in the long run - when the economy rebounds. Ending standalone business sections and cutting business news desk staffs sends readers to other media outlets that can provide the coverage that they want.
2. Mainstream business magazines - BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fortune are down in advertising revenue and in readers from their highs, and it’s because their audience -- mid-level company managers all the way up to the CEOs - are suffering themselves, with many having lost their jobs. BusinessWeek seems to have suffered the most. Its issues are tiny compared to its heydays in the 1990s.
3. The high-end business magazine - I’m referring to Conde Nast Portfolio and WSJ., in particular. Both were launched in the past two years amid much fanfare, aiming to go after the reader with the seven-figure salary. Their timing has been incredibly bad due to the economic crisis, and frankly, I find little in either that interests me anymore.
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Copyright © 2009 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
Savvy Spending
By Jennifer Hopfinger
Takeaways from the Cramer Interview
By Andrew Leckey
Faces of the Crisis
By Alec Klein
Strategizing the Blog
By Anita Malik
Winners and Losers
By Chris Roush
February 24, 2009
During times of economic crisis - such as the one that we’re currently encountering - there are always winners and losers in business.
Bank investors? Definitely losers. Hedge funds that bet against the mortgage industry? Definitely winners.
The same appears to be occurring in the world of business journalism. The winners are separating themselves from the losers. The determining factor, it appears, is a commitment to providing the space and prominence that stories about the business and economic world now demand in the media.
So, here are my top three winners, and my top three losers, in business journalism.
The Winners
1. The Wall Street Journal- No publication has done more to explain the current economic crisis than The Journal. It’s beefing up its reporting staff under orders from owner Rupert Murdoch. I was initially skeptical of The Journal and its changes, but I now find it to be clicking on all cylinders. A story last week about a foreclosure court in Florida is indicative of the paper’s power in telling a story that paints a larger picture.
2. American City Business Journals - The owner of 40 weekly business newspapers across the country is fairing better than its daily competitors. Chairman Ray Shaw recently told me that subscriptions were up for the company in 2008, while advertising revenue was down just 2 percent, while other papers saw double-digit drops. The reason? These papers know their audience, and they’re giving those businesses coverage that they can use.
3. CNBC and Fox Business Network - I’ll freely admit that I’m no big fan of either. The blustering and postering turns me off, and most of the on-air talent seem to be only trying to promote themselves. But they’ve struck a nerve with consumers, and both have seen their on-air viewership and Web audience rise.
The Losers
1. Daily newspaper business sections - Their struggles have been widely reported, but daily business newspapers are making cuts to business news sections that will hurt them in the long run - when the economy rebounds. Ending standalone business sections and cutting business news desk staffs sends readers to other media outlets that can provide the coverage that they want.
2. Mainstream business magazines - BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fortune are down in advertising revenue and in readers from their highs, and it’s because their audience -- mid-level company managers all the way up to the CEOs - are suffering themselves, with many having lost their jobs. BusinessWeek seems to have suffered the most. Its issues are tiny compared to its heydays in the 1990s.
3. The high-end business magazine - I’m referring to Conde Nast Portfolio and WSJ., in particular. Both were launched in the past two years amid much fanfare, aiming to go after the reader with the seven-figure salary. Their timing has been incredibly bad due to the economic crisis, and frankly, I find little in either that interests me anymore.
Copyright © 2009 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism