Stephen Happel and Kathy Kristof discuss the business coverage on the financial crisis. Photo: Matt Robinson
News media got the greed of Wall Street right during the financial crisis, but need to get away from financial jargon and tell stories behind the numbers, according to a panel of economists and business writers.
The panel, at the annual SABEW convention in Phoenix, Ariz., discussed what journalists got wrong during the financial crisis. John Wasik, a freelance journalist, moderated the event with Stephen Happel, an economist from Arizona State University, Ali Malekzadeh, dean of the Williams College of Business, Xavier University, and Kathy Kristof, a personal finance columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
Some tips emerged for business journalists:
- Keep it simple: the word “derivatives” makes most readers skip to next story. “Think about telling the story to your mom,” Kathy Kristof said.
- Tell the stories behind the numbers: Each statistic has a ripple effect throughout the economy, each layoff – a story said Malekzadeh.
- Understand the Context: How do new firms determine how risky a new financial product is? “If you don’t understand the issue, you need to make more phone calls,” said Kristoff.
- Aftershock Stories With the economy losing a trillion dollars last year, school committees, city councils and transportation authorities still have many difficult concessions to make.
Kathy Kristof offers face-to-face meetings are one of the best ways to develop sources.
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