Archive for August, 2009

August 2009

Monday, August 31st, 2009

New SABEW Board Member Diversifies Governing Body

Chris Peacock, executive editor and vice president of CNNMoney.com, will join the SABEW board effective Aug. 31. Peacock will fill the term of Bill Choyke, who is leaving the board, until the next board election at the society's annual conference in March. "Chris brings to the board a strong background in online business journalism as editor of CNNMoney.com and before that in overseeing ...[Read More]
Posted in SABEW News
Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Covering a New Company in Town

By Jill Jorden Spitz, Arizona Daily Star, and Jonathan Blum, Jonathan Blum editorial The Arizona Daily Star, October 2006. You just got word that a new company is coming to town. Here are some tips for compiling a thorough and well-rounded story by deadline. General reporting tips come first, followed by suggestions for examining financial data. Getting started Searching your paper's archives, ...[Read More]
Posted in Tip Sheets
Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Mid-Career Journalism Training Resources

Workshops and Seminars | Fellowships | Graduate-Level University Programs | Undergraduate Programs A summary of U.S.-based resources for mid-career training and studies for business journalists. SABEW members are invited to suggest additions and/or updates by e-mail to sabew@missouri.edu. Workshops and Seminars Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism Free day-long business journalism ...[Read More]
Posted in Resources
Monday, August 24th, 2009

Fall Workshop 2008

Workshop Information SABEW Fall Workshop 2008 was held Sept. 8-9, 2008, at the Kauffman Conference Center, Kansas City, Mo. Program (1.6 MB PDF) Workshop Handouts Achieving Health System Reform in Ohio (PDF, 3.7 MB) Background and Tips for Covering Biofuels (PDF, 89 KB) Engaging the Public and Maintaining Standards (PDF, 107 KB) Ethics Discussion Exercise - Blogging and Links (part ...[Read More]
Posted in Fall Workshop
Monday, August 24th, 2009

Unemployment: Fresh ideas on an ongoing story UPDATE

Recording Available...[Read More]
Posted in Past Teletraining
Monday, August 24th, 2009

Annual Conference 2008 Videos

Entrepreneurship: The Most Uncovered Business Story? View Video Health Insurance: Is it Enough? View Video Using Social Networking in Business Reporting View Video So You Lost Your Section: Is That So Awful? View Video Search Beyond Google View Video Using Campaign Finance Databases to Find Great Business Stories View Video...[Read More]
Posted in Past Event
Friday, August 21st, 2009

Annual Conference 2007 Photos

[gallery id=1830]...[Read More]
Posted in Past Event
Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Covering the Economic Slowdown and Localizing Coverage Conference Call

Download the Recording (Length: 1:01:03, File: 13.9 MB) **Note: When prompted to either save or open the file, click save to download it before listening. It may take 10 or more minutes....[Read More]
Posted in Audio
Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Why Groceries Cost So Much

Conference call, Thursday, May 29, 2008 Recording (Length: 1:24:50, File: 19 MB MP3) Description: Food costs now gobble an even bigger bite out of the budget for every American, regardless of income, race or gender. Consider this: In the last two years, world market prices for major food commodities, such as grains and vegetable oils, have soared 60 percent. The White House warned that the elevated ...[Read More]
Posted in Audio
Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Tips for Better Economics Stories II: Localize Your Coverage

Created for SABEW by Greg McCune, Reuters, March 2008 A great way to get readers' attention is to localize economic indicators. Regional, state and metropolitan figures are available for some important indicators. Unemployment figures for each region and state are issued by the Department of Labor around two to three weeks after the national figures. Unemployment figures for more than 100 ...[Read More]
Posted in Tip Sheets
Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Tips for Better Economics Stories I: Ten Tips

Created for SABEW by Greg McCune, Reuters, March 2008 Too often, reporters write economic stories in ways that are boring, dense, remote from the average reader's concerns and laden with economic-speak. Here are 10 tips for writing better economics stories: Get Organized. Bookmark a calendar of U.S. economic indicators, such as www.nber.org/releases/ and plan ahead. Find "consensus" ...[Read More]
Posted in Tip Sheets
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Annual Conference 2008 Photos

[gallery columns="4"]...[Read More]
Posted in Past Event
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Annual Conference 2009 Videos

Town Hall Meeting Town Hall Meeting (part 1) Town Hall Meeting (part 2) Town Hall Meeting (part 3) Town Hall Meeting (part 4) Town Hall Meeting (part 5) Town Hall Meeting (part 6) Town Hall Meeting (part 7) Town Hall Meeting (part 8) Town Hall Meeting (part 9) Town Hall Meeting (part 10) Town Hall Meeting (part 11) Gary Klott Ethics Discussion Gary Klott Ethics Discussion (part 1) Gary ...[Read More]
Posted in Past Event
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Annual Conference 2009 Photos

[gallery columns="4"]...[Read More]
Posted in Past Event
Friday, August 14th, 2009

New SABEW Executive Director Named

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers named veteran journalist and media industry leader Warren Watson as its executive director. Watson has been the director of J-Ideas, a journalism non-profit serving high-schoolers across the nation, since July of 2004. J-Ideas is based at Ball State University. He was at the American Press Institute from 1998 to 2004, the last four years ...[Read More]
Posted in SABEW News
Thursday, August 13th, 2009

New SABEW board member named

Gary Silverman, U.S. news editor for the Financial Times, will join the SABEW board effective immediately. Silverman replaces Cliff Cumber, who resigned from the board earlier this year. Silverman will serve the remainder of Cumber's term until the 2011 annual conference in Dallas. "One of our five-year plan goals was to spread our wings internationally, and I can think of no organization ...[Read More]
Posted in SABEW News
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

6 new governors join board

DENVER - SABEW members also elected six new members to the Board of Governors at the conference. Elected to serve three-year terms were: Sharon Bernstein, assistant business editor, Los Angeles Times. Kim Quillen, business editor, The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Walden Siew, reporter, ThomsonReuters. Maya Payne Smart, freelance writer. Marty Wolk, executive business editor, MSNBC.com. Incumbent ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

SABEW comes through challenging year in good shape

By Dave Beal DENVER - Despite a potentially disruptive administrative change last fall and possibly the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, we had a lot to be thankful for. We assembled a strong program for our meeting: the leading lights of business journalism at our town hall meeting on coverage of the financial meltdown; new SEC chair Mary Schapiro from the Obama administration; eight ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Flash in a flash

By Nisa Islam Muhammad DENVER - Not so sure what Flash is? Welcome to my world. Flash is the popular software that allows you to add animation and interactivity to Web pages as well as integrate video. I learned enough about the software during the session led by Tom McKay, an award-winning graphics artist with the Denver Post, to know that there will not be any "flashes of brilliance" from ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

How to navigate bankruptcy court

By Tim Higgins Detroit Free Press DENVER - With more companies running into financial troubles, experts on bankruptcy provided attendees at the annual conference with tips on covering firms going through court-supervised restructuring. "Bankruptcy is obviously white-hot these days," said Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute. Fifty-nine public companies ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Trust by verify is key to using social media, says CUNY professor in training session

By Dan Loving DENVER - Twitter. Facebook. YouTube. These and what seem to be an infinite number of social media Web sites can be useful when looking to broaden your sources and research for an article. But whether you're going to one of these sites to find someone to summarize their thoughts in 140 characters or less or looking for experts in some off-the-wall subspecialty, the journalist's ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Get back to the basics when writing for the Web

By Liz Engel DENVER - Veteran journalist Jacqui Banaszynski offered several tips for reporters looking to shine online, including ways to give scanning readers the best possible information in seconds. "The studies we're starting to get about Web reading indicate people really do read differently on a screen," Banaszynski said. "Just think about the way you read. We go home and we have our ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Think you’re working hard? Try being a freelancer, startup

By Ian Lamont DENVER - There is no easy route to entrepreneurial success, said the "Journalists turned entrepreneurs" panelists who discussed building a business as well as a portfolio. While offering SABEW members tips, they also emphasized the challenges new freelancers and business founders face. "You have to have an entrepreneurial mindset," said Michelle Leder, a former daily ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Keeping it honest in a freelance world

By Edward Wasserman Among the big changes the news business is undergoing is a steady erosion of its fundamental reliance on full-time, salaried journalists. What's emerging in its place is an industry built on a patchwork of different working relationships. Rick Edmonds, media analyst with the Poynter Institute, talks about "post-professional" news sites -startups led by part-time ex-newspaper ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Crisis brings focus on health-care reform

By Chris Dieterich DENVER - Three panelists addressed why this is likely to be a transformative year in terms of shaping a national health care policy during the "Reporting on Obama's health-care agenda" session at the conference. Panel moderator Gail DeGeorge, of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, said President Obama has sent a clear signal to lawmakers that health-care reform is a ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Protectionism isn’t working for newspaper industry, panelists say

By Mary Jane Pardue DENVER - John Temple, former editor of the Rocky Mountain News that folded in February, told SABEW members at the annual conference in Denver that there are no easy answers to stop the bleeding at the nation's newspapers. "I am a victim of the death - the Rocky death," Temple said at a session on "Bleeding red ink: How newspapers plan to stop the flow." "There isn't going ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Green energy panelists urge journalists to ask tough questions

By Cyndia Zwahlen DENVER - The drum beat for renewable energy is growing louder as government officials and industry backers tout solar, wind and biofuel as a cure for the country's economic ills. On Earth Day, President Barack Obama pushed his plan to create a clean energy economy that will "create millions of new jobs." Companies gush about the promise of their renewable energy technologies. ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Economic downturn hits Western Union

By Ines Bebea DENVER - As the economic downturn continues to choke Wall Street and Main Street, immigrant communities in the United States are also feeling the strain. Migrant workers are joining the ranks of thousands of Americans who have been laid off or remain unemployed, and their lack of financial support is affecting the lives of their families both here and in their home countries. The ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

How to spot the next investment bubble

By Suzanna Stagemeyer DENVER - Market bubbles are easy to spot. Common-sense clues that the real estate market had built to an unhealthy height showed up years before the burst, though it's difficult to predict timing, said panelists at the conference. "Bubbles have always occurred, and they always will," said Kevin Blakely, CEO of the Risk Management Association, a Philadelphia-based ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Are we forever blowing the bubbles?

By Marty Steffens DENVER - Jane Bryant Quinn took a moment during a session with executives from the National Endowment for Financial Education and SABEW members to reflect on her decades as America's leading personal finance columnist. Why, she rhetorically asked, don't people heed good financial advice? They know not to run up their credit cards, and to save for the future. Yet they ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Monday, August 10th, 2009

SABEW President’s Column

New Dogs Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks One of our summer interns at Reuters gave an internal training course to some of our veteran reporters the other day on how to put together an audio slide show. It was a formal training course via webinar with reporters in different cities participating. The veteran reporters loved it. I am sure this sort of thing is happening in newsrooms everywhere. ...[Read More]
Posted in SABEW News
Monday, August 10th, 2009

Business Journalism Leaders Defend Coverage — Up to a Point

Academics: labor issues ignored or bungled SABEW's president, Greg McCune, and Chris Roush, who writes the Talking Biz News blog for this website, defended the performance of business journalists Friday at a panel in Boston. But both identified aspects of the coverage that should be better. McCune and Roush spoke at a session titled "Business and Labor Reporting: Challenges, Criticisms and Responsibilities," ...[Read More]
Posted in SABEW News
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Baltimore Sun Business Editor Killed in Crash

Baltimore County police say the business editor of The Baltimore Sun has been killed in a car accident and his 9-year-old daughter is seriously injured. Police spokesman Bill Toohey says Tim Wheatley was making a left turn Monday morning about two miles from his home when a UPS truck hit the driver's side of his vehicle. The 48-year-old Wheatley died at the scene. His daughter, who was in the ...[Read More]
Posted in News
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Best In Business 2008: General Excellence Division Rules

The General Excellence division selects outstanding daily newspapers with a concentration of business news, weekly business newspapers, magazines and business Web sites (or business pages on general news sites). Contest categories for the General Excellence BIB contest division are: Daily Newspapers, Magazines, Weekly Newspapers....[Read More]
Posted in Best in Business, Events
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Fall Workshop, Sept. 8-9, 2008

Workshop Information SABEW Fall Workshop 2008 was held Sept. 8-9, 2008, at the Kauffman Conference Center, Kansas City, Mo. Program (1.6 MB PDF) Workshop Handouts Achieving Health System Reform in Ohio (PDF, 3.7 MB) Background and Tips for Covering Biofuels (PDF, 89 KB) Engaging the Public and Maintaining Standards (PDF, 107 KB) Ethics Discussion Exercise - Blogging and Links (part ...[Read More]
Posted in Events, Fall Workshop
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Society Gets Match, Topping Fund Drive Goal

Ken Baldwin, Paul Steiger lead new backers The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has reached its goal -- with room to spare -- of matching its $50,000 grant from the Challenge Fund for Journalism's consortium of four national foundations. Greg McCune, SABEW's president, said the total amount that qualifies for the matching fund drive is expected to top $60,000 when all the ...[Read More]
Posted in SABEW News
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Coverage of the meltdown: Did we blow it?

By Sean Sposito DENVER - Dean Starkman tried to play it cool. He squirmed, crossed his arms and appeared to sweat when he told roughly 200 business journalists they blew it, that they failed to cover the impending financial crisis before it was too late. "This issue of what was and wasn't said, what the press did and didn't do is really a matter of opinion," said Starkman, an editor ...[Read More]
Posted in Summer 2009
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Annual Conference 2009

The SABEW Annual Conference 2009 will be held on Apr. 26-28, 2009, at the Westin Tabor Center, Denver, Colo. About the Conference By Rob Reuteman, Conference committee chair DENVER -- Make plans now to attend "High Finance," SABEW's 46th annual conference in Denver , April 26-28, 2009. Conference headquarters will be the Westin Tabor Hotel, where Barack Obama and his family stayed in the Mile ...[Read More]
Posted in Past Event
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

SABEW Tops Fund Drive Goals

Ken Baldwin, Paul Steiger lead new backers The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has reached its goal -- with room to spare -- of matching its $50,000 grant from the Challenge Fund for Journalism's consortium of four national foundations. Greg McCune, SABEW's president, said the total amount that qualifies for the matching fund drive is expected to top $60,000 when all the ...[Read More]
Posted in Fundraising, What's New
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

David Sutton, 1940-2009: Longtime editor, mentor at Chicago Tribune

By Trevor Jensen | Tribune reporter, July 22, 2009 David Sutton held a number of editing and production jobs during 33 years with the Chicago Tribune, where he was known as a meticulous editor and an amiable mentor to younger colleagues. Mr. Sutton, 68, died of multiple myeloma Sunday, July 19, in Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He had lived in La Grange. Joining the newspaper in ...[Read More]
Posted in In Memoriam

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