Many people don’t read business news, and for good reason. There’s nothing more boring than a story that uses a bunch of numbers in the lead without explaining what’s actually going on. But business news writing doesn’t have to be boring, or laden with numbers.
The following is an introduction to a Brookings Institution research project and 2012 book, Whatever Happened to the Washington Reporters, 1978-2012, examining the career paths of journalists. Also see the video conversations with journalists at bottom.
_____
At the 2000 United Nations Summit a plan was developed to combat problems facing the world’s most impoverished populations. The plan was based on eight major objectives, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); the World Health Organization (WHO), part of the U.N., was responsible for coordinating efforts on the health-related objectives.
A 2012 report by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Women in the Labor Force: A Databook,” presents comprehensive historical and contemporary statistics on women’s participation in the labor force between 1970 and 2010, including employment, salaries and more.
The Internet offers a near-infinite variety of activities: reading the news; learning a new skill; finding a job; buying a widget; playing games; making friends. But what online activities do we engage in most, and why?
If The Associated Press Stylebook was created specifically for journalists, the target audience of The Chicago Manual of Style is much broader — all writing and writers. While one can debate the merits of Chicago versus AP style, Chicago’s strength is its breadth and depth.
Journalists have both rights and responsibilities. A good place to learn what these are is the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists. The society’s code is voluntarily embraced by thousands of journalists, regardless of place or platform, and is widely used in newsrooms and classrooms as a guide for ethical behavior.
