MADISON — For each of the last eight years, Pulitzer Prizes for investigative reporting were awarded to journalists who wrote about businesses or business themes. Yet it remains an often-undercovered area – especially as newsroom resources shrink.
Now, you have the opportunity to develop or enhance your business journalism investigative skills with a free, day-long training session sponsored and coordinated by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University and hosted by the Madison Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
The “Finding Your Best Investigative Business Story” workshop will take place Saturday, Sept. 28, on the UW-Madison campus. The training will last from 9:30 am until 4:30 pm; a light breakfast and lunch are included.
No matter what your beat, you’ll benefit from this training. You’ll learn how to:
* Find public information on private companies,
* Ask 15 smart questions about small businesses,
* Find and pitch your best investigative business story,
* Develop sources and get people to talk to you, and
* Find and utilize public records in investigative business journalism.
Your instructors are:
• Alec Klein, who joined the Medill journalism faculty in 2008 after eight years at The Washington Post as an investigative business reporter. His investigations have led to significant reforms, congressional hearings, federal law, criminal convictions and more than half a billion dollars in government fines.
• Chris Roush, the Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Scholar in business journalism and the founding director of the Carolina Business News Initiative at the University of North Carolina. He was named Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Teacher of the Year in 2009 and the North Carolina Professor of the Year in 2010.
For more information, including a detailed daily schedule, and information on hotels and parking, go to >https://businessjournalism.org/2013/04/18/finding-your-best-investigative-business-story-madison-wisc-sept-28/. So save the date, or register right away at https://businessjournalism.org/ws-registration/?cid=657.
Those who successfully complete three regional workshops or online seminars presented by the Reynolds Center are eligible to receive a “Circle of Achievement” certificate.
ABOUT THE REYNOLDS CENTER
Since 2003, more than 17,000 journalists have learned to cover business better through free training from the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. The center is part of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University’s Phoenix campus. The center offers free training in business journalism, both at regional workshops and online, as well as through daily tips on its website, BusinessJournalism.org. It is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it has committed over $145 million nationwide through its Journalism Program.
ABOUT SPJ, MADISON PRO
The Madison Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has been providing professional development and informational programming for Madison-area and Wisconsin journalists for more than 20 years. SPJ membership information is available at https://www.spj.org/whyjoin.asp
