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 shareholders, customers, and the executive’s
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 spent plenty talking to vendors.
I’m a big fan of the bells and whistles of modern storytelling, such as 360 journalism and data visualization. I’m equally enthusiastic about delving into audience analytics. But cutting-edge reporting
You’ve probably noticed that PR departments and agencies often try to make their pitches seem like authentic news. To that end, many will toss in statistics and other numbers. In
Many journalists use services like Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and Profnet to track down experts or real-people sources. But these large, general-interest services have their shortcomings, as Erik Sherman pointed out
We all know the feeling: Deadlines are approaching and you need sources. Whether you’re looking for company employees to interview, want to talk to a business’s customers or are hunting
Last year, I joined two long-time business journalist colleagues of mine—Randy B. Hecht and Robert McGarvey—on a webcast hosted by the American Society of Business Publication Editors. We discussed how
When a city bids to host the Olympics, it’s big sports news. It’s also a massive business story. Billions are invested, which means companies will vie for it and taxpayers often
Questions about material delivered by anonymous sources have fueled recent political stories. But off-the-record promises are thorny for business journalists as well. People might reasonably ask to go off the
Friends don’t let friends write drunk, unless one is at the Algonquin Round Table. But what happens when sources say something demonstrably stupid? Do you put in in the paper
Ivan Penn, Tampa Bay Times reporter, started his journalism career as a TV weatherman—in elementary school for an in-house cable program. His father, an avid consumer of the news, inspired
The most authoritative quotes come from on-the-record named sources, preferably senior executives, labor leaders, scientists, economists and workers with direct knowledge of the news. But there will come times in
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