Archive for 2009

October 2009

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Remembering Tim Wheatley

By Warren Watson Tim Wheatley wanted to be become an FBI agent at one point in his 26-year journalism career. He settled on becoming one of the best editors around - in Minneapolis, in Indianapolis, and finally in Baltimore. Wheatley was just beginning another stint in business journalism after creating award-winning sports sections at The Baltimore Sun, when he was killed Monday in a traffic ...[Read More]
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Organizers busy planning annual conference in Phoenix

By TBJ staff Mark your calendars for SABEW's 47th annual conference March 19-21 in sunny Phoenix at the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. The conference will run from Friday noon to Sunday noon and will take place during Spring Training in Arizona. Among the invited speakers are Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Mexican cell phone mogul Carlos Slim, Craig's List founder ...[Read More]
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Glasses raised to honor supporters

By TBJ staff NEW YORK - SABEW members celebrated the success of our 2008-09 fund drive with a reception attended by top donors and leading business journalists. At the Sept. 10th event, at Thomson Reuters headquarters at Times Square, SABEW President Greg McCune gave out wine bottles with the SABEW logo on them to major donors in appreciation of their support. Among those at the reception ...[Read More]
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Download The Fall 2009 Issue

Download the Fall 2009 Issue, 738KB PDF....[Read More]
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Silverman, Peacock fill vacancies on board

By Greg McCune SABEW President I am pleased to announce that Gary Silverman, U.S. news editor for the Financial Times, and Chris Peacock, executive editor and vice president of CNNMoney.com, have joined the SABEW board. Silverman replaces Cliff Cumber, who resigned from the board earlier this year. Gary will serve the remainder of Cliff's term until the 2011 annual conference in Dallas. One ...[Read More]
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Next generation learning economic fundamentals before hitting the streets

Chair's Corner Marty Steffens SABEW Chair in Business and Financial Journalism steffensm@missouri.edu / 573-884-4839 This is the third semester I've taught "Economics for Journalists" at the University of Missouri, exposing nearly 600 students to micro and macroeconomics. My co-professor, Dr. Martin Pereyra, and I use a customized textbook, "Econ 1051: General economics for school of journalism," ...[Read More]
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Remembering the (old) poor in the new recession

Ethics in Action Edward Wasserman John S. and James L. Knight Foundation professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University With this year marking the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, I recalled a comment by the astronomer Fred Hoyle, who was dismayed by the lunar mission. Hoyle had referred to the moon as a "ruined slag heap," a pretty brazen remark at a time of national ...[Read More]
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

ACBJ exec joins officer ladder

By TBJ staff Beth Hunt, manager of editorial operations for American City Business Journals, has been elected by SABEW's board of governors to become our next secretary. Hunt will take office at the society's 2010 annual conference in March in Phoenix. She has been a governor since 2008 and joined the board's executive committee in May. She will become president of our organization in Spring ...[Read More]
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

When you are shown the door, open your mind to possibilities

Behind The Beat Mary Jane Pardue Associate professor of journalism at Missouri State University mjpardue@missouristate.edu The newsroom staff is dwindling around you and your chilling thought is, "Will I be next?" And, if you are, what will you do to earn a paycheck? You may be thinking "I'm a writer. I can always get a job." But where? SABEW member Julius Karash is a freelance writer ...[Read More]
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

New dogs teaching old dogs new tricks

President's Letter Greg McCune ThomsonReuters Greg.mccune@thomsonreuters.com 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 ...[Read More]
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

An exciting time for change

Executive Director's Report Warren Watson SABEW Executive Director 602-496-5186 Journalism bug bites early, leads Warren Watson to SABEW I started playing around with journalism when I was 9, writing stories in pencil about Ted Williams and my Boston Red Sox on the blue lines of the composition paper we used in fourth grade. But I didn't get serious about it until the end of my junior year ...[Read More]

September 2009

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Challenge Grant 2008

My days on the board and as president of SABEW (1993) remain a highlight of my 30-plus years in the business. While I made the shift to digital journalism, and later to a corporate job at The Associated Press, my head and my heart have always been with business news. I learned much from my SABEW experience - most important, how to care about and work on something larger than your own job or career. The ...[Read More]
Monday, September 21st, 2009

Writing for the Web: Taking advantage of the medium

Recording No longer available Resources J-Lab Resources for Web Writing and Reporting Claudette Artwick's Blog Jerry LaMartina"™s Notes Description There's more to online journalism than taking a 30-inch newspaper story and posting it on the Web! How can your stories be presented more effectively online? What skills should you develop to be prepared for the future? What new story structures ...[Read More]
Thursday, September 17th, 2009

SABEW Honors Donors at Reception in New York

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers celebrated the success of its 2008-09 fund drive at a New York City reception attended by top donors and leading business journalists. See photos of the event here. At the event, held Sept. 10 at Thomson Reuters headquarters, SABEW President Greg McCune gave out wine bottles with the SABEW logo on them to major donors in appreciation of their ...[Read More]
Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Best In Business 2008: Contest Rules

This year SABEW launches a Best of the Best award designed to reward the very best work entered in SABEW's Best in Business contest. After BIB judging is completed, two uber-judging panels (one for General Excellence, one for all other categories) will review all the winning entries. Best of the Best judging panels, made up of SABEW past presidents and Distinguished Service Award winners, will single ...[Read More]
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Annual Conference 2010

2010 SABEW ANNUAL CONFERENCE / REGISTRATION ARE EARLY this year.  Online registration will begin in November 2009 for the upcoming 2010 SABEW Annual Conference to be held on March 19 - 21, 2010 at the Walter Cronkite School of Mass Communication and Journalism, Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona.  Please note the 2010 event will be held one month earlier than in years past.  Watch the ...[Read More]
Monday, September 14th, 2009

Town Hall Meeting: Coverage of the Meltdown – Did 9,000 Business Journalists Blow It?

Steiger, Bryant, Quinn and Ingrassia highlight SABEW town hall meeting on financial crisis and the media Former Wall Street Journal managing editor and ProPublica chief executive Paul Steiger will chair a "town hall" critique of the business media and the financial crisis to open the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Annual Conference 2009, April 26 in Denver. A star-studded ...[Read More]
Monday, September 14th, 2009

Annual Conference 2009 Schedule

The SABEW Annual Conference 2009 will be held on Apr. 26-28, 2009, at the Westin Tabor Center, Denver. Schedule Updates This schedule is updated as additional information is confirmed. Saturday, April 25 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pre-conference workshop: "Shooting Outstanding Video Business Stories." Sponsored by Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. (All participants in the ...[Read More]
Monday, September 14th, 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]

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]
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]
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]
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]
Monday, August 24th, 2009

Unemployment: Fresh ideas on an ongoing story UPDATE

Recording Available...[Read More]
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]
Friday, August 21st, 2009

Annual Conference 2007 Photos

[gallery id=1830]...[Read More]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Annual Conference 2008 Photos

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

Annual Conference 2009 Photos

[gallery columns="4"]...[Read More]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]

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