Don’t push sources beyond what they actually know
September 5, 2019
You’re no better than your sources, and the more varied and deep the information they can provide, the more effective your research and stories are.
You’re no better than your sources, and the more varied and deep the information they can provide, the more effective your research and stories are.
Hearing from people who ask for interviews off the record has become a regular part of business journalism. In my experience, that’s most frequently done
If your experience reporting is anything like mine, you’ll constantly hear from people who want to be sources and their reps. It may be in
Finding good sources can be a challenge and chances are you spend a good amount of time looking for them. You want someone with knowledge
Social media has become such a fabric of life that it is also now an intrinsic part of how reporters do their work. Stories regularly
All writers—business journalists, too—prize creativity. Story structure, phrasing, ledes and kickers. No matter how dry the topic, you likely want to make the result as
Big data and artificial intelligence are tremendously popular in business. Everybody is using “machine learning” or “deep learning” or “analytics” or “neural networks” or any
Covering business means you’re always hearing estimates, projections, and predictions from companies, industry analysts, think tanks, and others. The view as to where things might
In business journalism, you can safely bet that most—almost all, even—interview subjects have an agenda. Company executives want to project an image that will satisfy
A long time ago, I was in a software distribution business with a large audience of software developers and engineers. Much of my time was
We’re coming up—again!—on an election cycle which has become practically a full-time business. This is a period where political reporters have at it. A run-up
Anyone can get into a rut. When you’re a working journalist, a rut can become so deep that you no longer see over the top.
Two Minute Tips
Every Tuesday we send out a quick-read email with tips for business journalism. Sign up now and get one Tuesday.