Business journalism- like many journalism specialties is exciting.
A journalist in this segment who positions himself or herself right is in for rich learning experiences.
The best journalist in this class are quick studies, ask smart forward thinking and tough questions as a result they never have a dull moment.
Business journalists have the luxury of investigating international and domestic business trends and issues.
News and reviews of everything from power CEO's to unethical CEO's are covered.
Business fields discussed are numerous and can involve marketing, administration, investment, tax issues, insurance, corporate law, management, consulting and human resources topics.
The pursuit of information and a look at trends to merge with reality gives these enterprising journalists much enjoyment.
The Pursuit They pursue newspapers and magazine articles that discuss their key business subjects.
This is done to review what is current.
In looking at current issues they are able to come up with a variety of different angles, and not to just copy what they read.
It's akin to panning for gold.
Each find is or should be different and produce a wealth of information.
The winning journalist who scours over this research has an eye toward discovering slants that are not covered.
Similar ideas are covered, but the really hard-hitting stories that are memorable are the stories that stand out because they are different.
Trends & Solutions Successful business journalist look at the big picture.
Instead of using pretentiousness to select writing topics and conjure up solutions to perceived business issues they do market research to find answers.
They have been known to find a plethora of micro and macroeconomic trends- problem or otherwise- which impact businesses.
Within in the last decade, a macro situation involved a new law that required businesses with less than 50 employees to provide health insurance for full-time workers.
Savvy business journalists were on this tip and crafting stories demonstrating the impacts on small businesses and even providing a tip or two that would help companies manage this potentially expensive legislative outcome.
The best business journalist fine trends and pen pieces to help readers navigate the trenches.
See skillful business journalism in action in the Wall Street Journal at www.
wsj.
com and Entrepreneur Magazine at www.
entrepreneur.
com/magazine/entrepreneur/index.
html.
Reality To have a compelling impact on readers it is not uncommon for a business journalist to use a real company to tell a story.
Doing so not only adds credibility to the article but it lets readers know some company has actually had this experience, whether the outcome was positive or negative.
This gives an authentic testament to the experience and any proposed solutions.
Breaking In Call up the nearest hands-on expert.
A professional or professional's gatekeeper who is in the mix can provide meaty details.
Its easier to get a how do you do it interview from a professional than to get a job referral, or even a dollar.
You can gain very valuable perspective by interviewing an insurance company for their side, and a company who has successfully dealt with the added expense of having to provide health insurance.
In an effort to cut costs, one trend has involved companies hiring more part-time workers versus full-time employees.
Fewer full-time employees translates to less health insurance costs.
However you approach business journalism do so with an eye toward the excitement.
Business makes up the very foundation we live on and has unlimited niches to be explored and documented.