Business journalism is the part of
journalism that tracks, records, analyzes and interprets the
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
,
economic and
financial
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
activities and changes that take place in societies.
Topics widely cover the entire purview of all
commercial activities related to the
economy.
This area of journalism provides news and feature
articles
Article often refers to:
* Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness
* Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication
Article may also refer to:
G ...
about people, places and issues related to the
business sector. Most newspapers, magazines, radio, and television-news shows include a business segment. Detailed and in-depth business journalism may appear in publications, radio, and television channels dedicated specifically to business and financial journalism.
History
Business journalism began as early as the
Middle Ages, to help well-known trading families communicate with each other.
Around 1700,
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
—best known for his novels especially ''Robinson Crusoe''—began publishing business and economic news. In 1882
Charles Dow,
Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser began a wire service that delivered news to investment houses along Wall Street.
[ And in 1889, '' The Wall Street Journal'' began publishing.][ While the famous muckraking journalist Ida Tarbell did not consider herself to be a business reporter, her reporting and writing about the Standard Oil Co. in 1902 provided the template for how thousands of business journalists have covered companies ever since. Business coverage gained prominence in the 1990s, with wider investment in the ]stock market
A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...
. ''The Wall Street Journal'' is one prominent example of business journalism, and is among the United States of America's top newspapers in terms of both circulation
Circulation may refer to:
Science and technology
* Atmospheric circulation, the large-scale movement of air
* Circulation (physics), the path integral of the fluid velocity around a closed curve in a fluid flow field
* Circulatory system, a bio ...
and respect for the journalists whose work appears there.
Personnel
Journalists who work in this branch are classed as "business journalists". Their main task is to gather information about current events as they related to business. They may also cover processes, trends, consequences, and important people, in business and disseminate their work through all types of mass media.
Scope
Business journalism, although common in most industrialized countries
A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...
, has a very limited role in third-world and developing countries. This leaves citizens of such countries in a very disadvantaged position locally and internationally. Recent efforts to bring business media to these countries have proven to be worthwhile.
See also
*Gerald Loeb Award
The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was estab ...
*'' Business Insider''
*'' Forbes''
*'' Financial Times''
*'' Nihon Keizai Shinbun''
* Weekend City Press Review
References
Further reading
*
* ''Profits and Losses: Business Journalism and its Role in Society'', Roush, Chris, 2010. Marion Street Press: Portland, OR.
* ''Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication'', Roush, Chris, 2016, Routledge: New York.
External links
Definition and history of business journalism in the ''Encyclopedia of Journalism''
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