The Decoder

Almost two-thirds of business journalists report the amount of business coverage at their organization has stayed the same or increased in the past five years, according to a new survey commissioned by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. | Business Journalists Study 2010.

The Business Journalists Study 2010 is a groundbreaking survey of 473 business reporters and editors.

“We talked with hundreds of print, online, wire, broadcast and freelance business journalists, and they expressed optimism about the future of journalism,” said Andrew Leckey, Reynolds Center president and Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at Arizona State University.

“I am convinced the Reynolds study is a seminal piece of work that should make the obituary writers for journalism pause and seriously reflect,” said professor Tim McGuire, former editor of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. McGuire is Frank Russell Chair for the Business of Journalism at ASU’s Cronkite School.

Specifically, McGuire was surprised that almost a third reported an increase in pay over the past two years and that seven out of 10 business journalists say they are more or just as satisfied with their jobs as they were five years ago.  Almost three-fourths plan to stay in journalism.

“What’s striking in the results is how much more negatively print journalists have been impacted compared with those from other media,” said Linda Austin, executive director of the Reynolds Center.

Respondents averaged 20 years in journalism and 12.8 years as business journalists.  Also:

• Six out of 10 are doing more or about the same level of investigative journalism
• Nine out of 10 have learned new skills
• About half blog, file first for online, cover more beats

For the full study results, please visit http://businessjournalism.org/2010/06/22/business-journalists-express-confidence-in-journalism-future/.

Tags: future of journalism, journalism, journalist opinions, studies