Business and economic reporting

I have heard a thousand times that we journalism students had better have a minor major, which at best we are interested in. We need knowledge in some specialties to stand us out when the competition is fiercer and fiercer in the media world. And one guest speaker once gave us a suggestion: business and economy, the two fields that will never vanish, but prosper.

Every time I read the New York Times, I skip the business block, even though I know the information there is importantly connected to our daily life. But it is the stereotype that keeps me away from the stories: business and economic reporting must be filled with tons of boring figures, which make the stories confounding and not understandable. Also, in my previous opinion, business and economic reporting is all about GDP, rude oil price fluctuation and inflation. But after browsing the latest business block of the Time, I found the concept of business enlarged: the iPod or iPhone in your pocket, canned good and condoms, Youtube, Bollywood and its movie industry...All those hot topics can be included in business and economic reporting. Sounds more fun?

I read the story in the Time: What Sells in a Recession: Canned Goods and Condoms. I try to trace back how the reporter formed up this story idea when there were no hard facts in this story. We all know we are in the midst of a bad economy period and hear about layoffs almost everyday. But what else can we cover during this time besides the frustrating news? Watching and thinking about the world more carefully, we may come up with some curious ideas about trivial details in the life, like when we are wandering in a Wal-mart supercenter. But most of the time, we only focus on shopping. We ignore the possible story ideas only because we lack discovering eyes.

Business is everywhere, and business reporting can be interesting and inviting.

I like the words in the introduction of the Business and Economic reporting class in NYU: to be a great reporter, no matter what you [end up covering, you have to be able to follow the money.

Bring Mercy in Motion

Last week, I handed in a story idea to our Broadcast 2 adviser, Greeley Kyle. I was so glad to find such a good story in a magazine and expected to get a positive response. The story is about a volunteer group which actively sent relief supplies overseas to those in needs. The group has distributed more than 16,000 PETs (personal energy transportation) in 69 countries. I thought it was humanized and emotional. However, on the grade sheet I retrieved, the adviser left one remark, saying "Story's been done many times."

I was a tad frustrated just like my favorite food has been sold out. I then looked up the internet and found the series done by Sarah Hill from KOMU. I was fully impressed by the high quality of the masterpiece. The fabulous visual, the moving music, the elaborate narration and the pitiful people in Vietnam put the story to a record-high level.

I want to talk about one session of the series today, Bringing Mercy to Motion, which I think is really well done. It’s link is:
http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba81393f-c0a8-2f11-0198-36158e12b6c6/efa2c114-ac18-6b6e-0215-b47040d94b01

1.In the anchor lead, Sarah used an analogy between the snow in Missouri and the typhoon in Vietnam. Smart writing!
2.Good graphic of map. Animation starts from Columbia, Missouri and goes to Vietnam on the other side of the world. It just emphasizes the distance and thus the sincerity from the volunteers.
3.Good transition shot of the cloud shot from a plane laid with some background music and soundbites.
4.Good sequence shot of an old man riding a PET in the street, but the last shot crosses the axis line.
5.Very experienced use of nat sound and close-up shot.
6.The photographer Scott is marvelous at shooting. His lens is close enough to the subjects and beautiful.
7.One flaw of it is the standup in which Sarah was standing against the sunshine, therefore her face was dark.
8.Sarah really wrote to the video, like “holding their hands”.
9.I guess Sarah was limited by the language to interview the Vietnamese.

Overall, it is a well done story which brings reporters awards and reputation. Also, the photographer is a big contributor to the cooperation, making the same story fruitier.