Rosland Gammon is a former business journalist turned college instructor. Her newsroom experience includes reporting for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and reporting and editing at Bloomberg News. Gammon currently teaches communications at Alverno College in Milwaukee. Follow her daily posts. | E-mail: Rosland Gammon
After years of covering a beat, earnings stories can lose their appeal for some reporters. Many reporters fall into a “plug and play” role. But that’s not what Scott Malone of Reuters did in his piece about Oshkosh Corp. Here the numbers aren’t as important as company investor Carl Icahn’s influence. He writes: “Icahn, who [...]
Adam Davidson of NPR’s Planet Money produced an Atlantic article and a two-part segment for Planet Money looking at the loss of jobs for unskilled workers and the growing demand for skilled workers. He explored the issue through Standard Motor Products, a 92-year-old, family-run maker of replacement parts for car engines. In yesterday’s post, Adam offered tips [...]
Adam Davidson of NPR’s Planet Money set out to look at the state of unskilled workers in America. Specifically, he wanted to focus on the loss of jobs for unskilled workers and the growing demand for skilled workers. “This struck me as a very serious issue, it means that, for many Americans, the American dream [...]
I don’t usually blog about blogs, but I liked a post by Micheline Maynard, a Forbes contributor and senior editor of Changing Gears. | Editor’s note: Micki Maynard also wrote the Reynolds Center’s Beat Basics package on Manufacturing. In the Changing Gears post that caught my eye, she wrote about Austin, Texas, looking to boost its [...]
Josh Nathan-Kazis of the Jewish Daily Forward looked into two charities, Kars4Kids and Oorah Inc., and found that less than 25 percent of the $29 million they collected in 2010 was spent on providing programs. The organizations collect donated cars for their mission to support Orthodox outreach to non-Orthodox Jews. Josh also found that Kars4Kids spent $8.3 million on advertising in 2010.
Susan Berfield of Bloomberg Businessweek produced a well-researched and -written piece covering a “tale of economic desperation” in Moberly, Mo. She details the town’s relationship with “a short, chubby, well-dressed executive from Beverly Hills named Bruce Cole.” His company, Mamtek, planned to build an artificial-sweetener plant that would employ 612. Excited city officials dove into the deal within three weeks of meeting him and approved $39 million in municipal bonds for the company.
When ING Direct bank decided to open a San Francisco “café,” Aaron Glantz of The Bay Citizen didn’t just focus on the “13 flat-screen televisions; beanbag chairs; a deli counter that sells coffee, cookies and sandwiches; and plenty of tables and outlets for customers using the free wireless Internet access.”
Susie An of Chicago’s WBEZ public radio station found some people who couldn’t pay their bills were landing in jail despite laws that prohibit debtors’ prisons.
It’s one thing to whack a coconut on air so listeners can understand the challenge of opening the nut and grasp what coconut water is. It’s entirely another thing to consistently come up with ideas to tell stories a different way.
That’s what NPR’s Robert Smith does.
Yesterday, he offered tips about grabbing an audience’s attention.Today, he offers tips about finding interesting angles for stories.
