Business Journalism

Business journalism refers to reporting and writing about businesses and the economy. In addition, it commonly includes other beats such as labor, workplace, technology, personal finance, investment, and consumer reporting, as well as investigative reporting focusing on these topics. The field is also known as financial journalism, particularly in countries other than the United States. The common theme in all of this coverage is money—who spends it, who earns it, who makes it, and where it comes from. As more consumers of journalism become aware of how the economy and the stock market affects their daily lives, they are increasingly turning to business journalism to explain the significance.

Business journalism in the United States has grown in importance over the past century due to significant changes in the economic makeup of American society. At the time of the great stock market crash of October 1929, less than 10 percent of U.S. households owned shares of any stock. By 2002, more than 50 percent of homes owned stock in at least one company, typically through mutual funds or retirement plans. Also feeding public interest in business news is the fact that fewer people in the twenty-first century remain with one company throughout their careers, which had been typical from the 1940s through the 1970s.

As a result of these developments, more and more people have come to be interested in news about companies, the stock market, and the economy. The amount of business journalism exploded during and since the 1970s, with daily newspapers creating standalone business sections; personal finance magazines such as Money, Worth, and Smart Money launching; and the number of business journalists working in the country tripling in number to more than 12,000.

In the early twenty-first century, business journalism is presented in various media forms, including the business section of most daily newspapers, weekly business newspapers found in every major metropolitan market, websites such as The http://Street.com and http://Marketwatch.com covering specific segments of business journalism, and two cable television networks, CNBC and Fox Business Network. There are also a number of business-only daily [Page 226]newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal (though its focus under new owner Rupert Murdoch appears to be growing somewhat more general) and Investor's Business Daily, as well as magazines, such as BusinessWeek, Conde Nast Portfolio, Forbes, and Fortune, all devoted to business journalism.

Business journalism, in its role as a watchdog on companies and regulators, can be credited for uncovering illegal and unethical practices that have caused investors to lose millions of dollars and workers to lose their jobs. A 2007 Harvard Business School study studied 263 cases of accounting fraud and determined that 29 percent were identified by the business press before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the company itself announced an investigation. Further, in 36 percent of those early identifications, the reporter conducted original financial analysis to support the story.