Business Journalism

Conceptual Overview

Business journalism has evolved from a marginal position in the mass media into a widely dispersed and differentiated activity guided by journalistic norms and performing important societal functions. Wayne Parsons described in 1989 how business news dates back to the 17th century and was a precursor of other forms of news production. The ability to collect and disseminate economic information was a precondition for the geographical expansion of markets, making business information and commentary, in the shape of newsletters, newspapers, and magazines, a valued commodity. Early business news publications contained information about prices, commodities, and deals, reports about international events relevant to trade, as well as financial tipping and business gossip, helping to cultivate commercial sentiment in wider circles.

By the early 19th century, economic journalism concerned with broader issues of political economy evolved, but with the notable exception of The Economist, founded in 1843, this type of journalism was not widely institutionalized. In the second half of the 19th century, a specialized business press emerged, typically associated with trade associations and employer federations, and concerned with technical as well as regulatory issues. Alongside these specialized publications, new general business dailies, such as the Financial Times established in 1888 in Great Britain and The Wall Street Journal established in 1889 in the United States, supplied news about trade and politics or about developments on the national stock exchanges.

Stimulated both by international economic crisis and the development of national economic policy, there was a revival of economic journalism from the 1920s onward, even in the all-round Press.

After World War II, economic policy and economic issues gradually invaded the political discourse in most countries, but on the whole journalistic specialization in the area of business and economy was limited.

The global economic downturn of the 1970s stimulated new attempts to popularize economic journalism, leading to a growing interest in dedicated coverage of economy and business issues even in the all-round mass media. During the 1980s, the field expanded dramatically both in terms of journalistic output, the number and types of outlets, and the number of journalists working in the field.

The expansion entailed a redefinition of business journalism that downplayed the emphasis on the economy or industry as a whole and moved toward a more distinct financial or corporate focus. As a result of neoliberal economic reforms, the globalization of [Page 129]financial markets, and the growing importance of institutional financial investment, the financially oriented definition of business journalism has come to dominate business and economy coverage almost universally. National markets, as well as a global market for financial journalism, have evolved involving both existing print media outlets and new electronic media outlets (e.g., online financial information services, such as Reuters and Bloomberg), in effect making the dominant national and global media actors multimedia providers of a variety of business content: feature news, financial information, and analysis.

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