Robert Bartley, Editor, The Wall Street Journal (New York)

James Flanigan, Senior Economics Editor, Los Angeles Times

Myron Kandel, Financial Editor and Anchor, CNNfn (New York)

James Michaels, Editor Emeritus and Group Vice President/Editorial, Forbes (New York)

Moderator:

Thomas Goldstein, Professor of Journalism and Dean, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University (New York)

Summary:

Over the last 30 to 40 years, business news evolved from a model serving a very elite sector of the population, to an essential component of almost every news media outlet. Not until the oil shock of the 1970′s, did American households realize the importance of staying informed of the events that affected their economic situation. This lack of interest in business news was also reflected in media outlets across the countries where reporters had to fight with their editors to convince them that a particular business news article was worthy of front-page space.

This heightened interest in business news has spurred the appearance of an ever increasing number of media outlets, solely devoted to business reporting, through a variety of channels, including newspapers, magazines, radio, TV stations and Internet sites. In regards to the proliferation of television-based business-news outlets, Myron Kandel stated that he believed it was beneficial to the business reporting profession. However, Jim Michaels disagreed with Kandel, sustaining that television coverage of business news was over simplistic and factual. He cited the fact that they only mention changes in stock prices, report quarterly earnings and how they differ from expectations, as examples.

The discussion then focused on the challenges in managing news outlets, with one of the main difficulties being sifting through the torrent of information flowing in. In order to manage this flow, and instead of carefully analyzing the news item, reporters often focus on aspects that are getting the most attention amongst most outlets, ignoring other important facts that have not come under the spotlight. Another challenge that news reporters face is their reliance on third parties to analyze information for them, with one example being that many business reporters do not know how to interpret company reports and therefore depend on equity analysts to do that job for them. Asked about whether this meant that accountants would be hired to work as business journalists, Bartley said that: "it is easier to teach journalists accounting, than it is to teach accountants how to write."

To end the discussion, panelists focused on the challenges that emerging technologies, such as the web, pose to the more traditional mediums like daily newspapers and magazines. Interestingly enough, and contrary to the initial predictions that web outlets were going to replace their paper counterparts, the web has actually given them an opportunity to enhance their product offering by providing their subscribers with additional services like searchable news and article archives. However, many paper-based outlets have adapted, or are considering adapting to emerging consumer preferences, primarily replacing the section covering stock quotes with electronic sources.

Background Info:
Milken Institute Review book excerpt

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