By Marissa Evans
There’s something about business journalism that really makes me happily confused.
As a student journalist who has been trying to find their prospective journalistic niche, for the past several months I have been unable to go a day without reading a business story (or a few) from BusinessJournalism.org, Bloomberg, CNNMoney.com, The Wall Street Journal or The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
I will truthfully say I am not a numbers or arithmetic person by any means, nor am I unashamed to admit that I experience a slight jargon barrier here and there while reading. But when it comes to business news – stories about branding, new products, new strategy, mergers, trades, big contracts, consumer reports, crisis management, the stock market, CEOs going off the deep end – I can dig it.
My intrigue with business news was piqued moreso in October 2010 when I went to The Collegiate Business Journalism Conference, held Oct. 21-23 at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York City and sponsored by The University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill. I was not quite expecting to get in as I am currently only a sophomore, but my advisor advised I apply anyway. I was overjoyed I was accepted.
Those three days went by far too quickly. Maybe it was the clear chill days of the magical Big Apple. Maybe it was my first taste of a New York gryo (though I am forever loyal to the ones in California). Maybe it was the walking tour of The Wall Street Journal and the Dow Jones Newswire.
Maybe it was sitting in front of panelists and recruiters from Bloomberg, Associated Press and the Dow Jones Newsfund.
Maybe it was being surrounded by 58 other students who were just as passionate about journalism and our industry as I am. All I know is that while on the plane ride back to Milwaukee, as I thumbed through the nifty “The Financial Writer’s Stylebook: 1,100 Business Terms Defined and Rated,” was that this is what I want to do.
One thing that will always stay with me is when one of the panelist, John Carney, who runs CNBC’s new business news blog NetNet.com, told us participants “If you don’t have a blog, I probably will not hire you.” I distinctly remember straightening up in my seat a bit when he said that. No blog, no job, gotcha.
It made sense though, if you don’t wish to do some analysis of your own beat or industry outside of work, why should you be hired?
I remember scribbling furiously in the margins of my yellow reporter notebook in big capital letters -- “MAKE A BLOG.”
Now, my business news related blog ‘Life in Currency’ (www.lifeincurrency.tumblr.com) is up and running.
The concept is still developing, but I am proud of my first posts thus far. It can only get better from here.
Taking my high from the conference with me for the rest of the journalism internship application season, I enthusiastically talked about the conference in my cover letters and how I would love to spend the summer reporting business news.
In December, I was overjoyed to accept an offer to be the summer business intern for The Star Tribune in Minneapolis. It was also pleasing to recently hear that friends I had made during the conference would be interning at Bloomberg and The Cincinnati Business Courier this summer.
While I am busily preparing myself (and my business news vocabulary) for the summer ahead, I have never been more excited about the opportunities that await on a personal and future business journalist level.
Evans is a sophomore at Marquette University, where she is the founding president of the National Association of Black Journalists chapter.
