You’re a business journalist and you’ve had it tough over the last two years. You watched as major newspapers in Seattle and Denver folded, business sections collapsed or were shunted inside other sections, and your colleagues lost jobs — permanently.

It’s been tough.

But you’re seeing some signs of hope today and wonder what’s really up.

You watched the results of a recent Reynolds Center study that showed that business journalists are optimistic once again. They feel that their contributions are valued once more.

Here’s more for you to think on. Major companies are building back. Gannett newspapers in Detroit, Cincinnati and Indianapolis – for starters – are adding space for business news. Business section fronts are reappearing. Companies are advertising for business positions on various websites, including SABEW and Poynter.

Yes, said Kai Ryssdal (correct spelling), host of public radio’s Marketplace, we’re in a moderate recovery most everywhere. “But it sure doesn’t feel like it sometimes,” he said glibly on his June 29 broadcast.

Ryssdal is right. The whole economy is moving forward – but trapped in low gear.

“It’s slow,” said James Pilcher, senior business writer at the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Advertising is up, but revenue is still down considerably from before the recession. The paper is still profitable, and according to our publisher, continues to beat monthly and quarterly goals set by corporate. “

And Pilcher cautions that space has opened “but we have not seen any increases in staff to handle the extra space.”

Steve Berta, senior editor overseeing business at The Indianapolis Star, reports the same. On June 27, the newspaper added news features and space, with Sunday being redesigned as a stand-alone, six-page section.

And The Detroit News, another Gannett property, has strengthened its print edition, says editor Paul Anger. As part of that business is reappearing as a section front on Tuesdays at least.

“The industry has been battered so badly the past couple years, it almost seems counter-intuitive to hear about papers filling long-vacant positions, adding column inches of business news or bringing back standalone sections,” said Rob Reuteman, SABEW president. “It’s a welcome relief to see evidence of publishers beefing up financial news, and one can only hope it’s the result of listening to their readers.”

The state of print journalism as a whole is still uncertain, but analysts agree that business conditions are better, that the cyclical downturn is largely over. Of course, the industry is still faced with the seminal changes created by the migration of so much news to the Internet. How much bounceback is still unclear amid changes in readership habits.

“Don’t be misled,” argues newspaper/ media consultant Alan Jacobson of Brass Tacks Design. “It’s not coming back. Subscribers are dying. I tell people to run from newspapers.”

Whether that will transpire is uncertain, but clearly traditional, legacy media organizations are not falling back on their laurels.

In fact, Pilcher, for one, is pleased to see Cincinnati Enquirer morale improve with the news steps forward. “We’re talking about stories again, not simply the future of the industry,” he said.

Pay-for-news and paywall experiments show promise in some markets. So-called loyalty programs with over-the-top customer service are helping retain subscribers.  And the iPad has captured the imagination of young newspaper readers who eshew ink on paper.

In the end, much of this might be considered sustaining innovation as we move to new platforms of delivery.

Drew Davis, the president of the American Press Institute, a 64-year-old training and development organization in Reston, Va., which focuses on innovation practices, often tells the story of the gas-lamp industry at the turn of the 20^th century.

Davis said gas lamps that lit cities and homes became endangered when incandescent lighting was perfected. The industry, realizing its imminent demise, created improvements such as the wick (seen mostly in Coleman lanterns today), which made gas lamps burn longer and brighter.

The innovation gave the gas lamp industry time to refocus its business development on gas for cooking and heating, both staples today.

When it comes to newspapers and innovation, what will our sustaining innovation be? And where are we headed in journalism?

You’re still scratching your head.

Economic musings from all over

Let’s see. So, this is what’s happening in the college sports business! The Pac 10 may soon be the Pac 12 with the addition of Colorado and Utah. And the Big 10 may become the Big 11, adding Nebraska. But it already has 11 teams. Remember the addition of Penn State. And the Big 12 now has only 10 teams.

What I am not confused about: It’s all about the money. Texas made overtures about going west with the Pac 10, but decided to stay in the Big 12 minus 2 because of a strong, pending television deal. The Cornhuskers moved to the Big 10 plus one plus one because of the Big 10 Network and its lucrative deal.

It’s all about education right? Wrong: Try bowl games and TV revenue.

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Yes, it is all about the money too in the World Cup soccer tournament. Forget the topsy-turvy effort of the United States team – and those ridiculous vuvuzelas, which are the buzz of the competition – literally – and aren’t going away anytime soon it seems.

It’s all about the money on soccer’s grandest stage as well. A few years ago, FIFA – soccer’s world governing body – announced a still shimmering $425 million deal for World Cup television rights in the United States from 2007 to 2014. The deal involving ABC-Disney-ESPN and Univision represented the largest FIFA contract in a single country ever.

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Watch the SABEW website soon for information about our summer online auction. There will be sports tickets up for grabs, studio tours, even the chance to bid for a week at a summer lake cottage in Maine.

It’s part of our summer fundraising campaign, which benefits the SABEW general fund. Proceeds will benefit our education and technical activities. Details will be posted soon on our website. And yes, it is about the money!