Video Recap of our 2011 Fall Conference at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
NEW YORK — More than 180 journalists and others attended the SABEW Fall Conference and Workshop Oct. 13-14 at the City University of New York Graduate School.
A series of headliners, including a joint appearance by three top editors at Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones were featured as SABEW conducted its fall event for the second year in a row at CUNY.
“It was a dynamic event, full of strong voices and sessions geared to increase the skill level of our business journalists,” said Warren Watson, SABEW executive director. “We made news and it was a satisfying evening and day.”
A rare joint appearance by key editors of three major new organizations opened the program on Thursday evening, Oct. 13. The editors, focusing on the state and future of journalism, included: Steve Adler, editor-in-chief of Reuters; Norm Pearlstine, Bloomberg’s chief content officer; and Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of the Wall Street Journal.
The company’s represented are continuing to add jobs, while the entire journalism industry has shed 13,500 positions in the last three years.
The trio of top editors, questioned by Steve Shephard, dean of the CUNY grad school, commented on the state of journalism. Said Thomson, “we’re trying to anticipate how people will read you and when people will read you.”
Adler stressed the importance of quality journalism: “It’s important to the organization (Reuters) to do absolutely the best possible journalism.”
Pearlstine noted that Bloomberg is making a strong initiative in magazines, its website and in covering Washington. “The intersection of business and government is where we’re going to find a lot of stories,” he said.
Several keynoters highlighted the Friday program.
• Economist Kenneth Rogoff told conference-goers that the United States is still recovering from the recession and that the recovery will be long and painful.
• Steve Sadove, CEO of Saks International, said luxury retailers continue to thrive despite the sputtering economy.
• Larry Leibowitz, COO of the New York Stock Exchange, said the ongoing Wall Street protests are a sign that economic leaders have not done an adequate job in articulating an economic recovery plan.
Another highlight was a panel discussion on the new healthcare exchanges created in the new health reform law. Those ecchanges will be created by 2014.
Jill Jorden Spitz, SABEW vice president; and Greg David, who leads the business journalism sequence at CUNY, developed the program and served as co- site-chairs.
SABEW’s board is having discussions with CUNY with the hope to conduct its fall event there next October.
SABEW raised more than $5,000 for its education and training fund through a benefit silent and live auction held in conjunction with the conference.
The organization’s next major training event will be its spring conference and workshop March 15-17 at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
(Information from the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism and talkingbiznews.com was used in this report.)
SEE ADDITIONAL COVERAGE HERE:
Leibowitz Discusses Wall Street and Technology’s Impact on the Market
Rogoff: America could still descend into a second Great Depression
Luxury retailers seeing opportunities despite rocky economy
NY panel explains complex issue of health insurance exchanges
Top Editors: Newspaper outlook bleak
Here’s a list of individuals who attended the conference
See additional coverage by CUNY Graduate School of Journalism here:
Finance in the Forefront from NYCity News Service.