Resources and keeping students interested - Reynolds Week 2011

Resources and keeping students interested Chris Roush [email_address] Jan 4, 2011 Business Journalism Professors Seminar

Overcoming student perceptions
One of the biggest issues in teaching “Business Reporting” is the belief by students that the topics is boring.
Few read the business section – before taking our classes.
Those that do have an impression that it’s boring stories about earnings and quoting economists.

Many journalism school students are enrolled in our programs for one reason: They’re not good in math.
They eschew business and math classes in college as a result.
Have to show them that they can use their math skills to their advantage in journalism.

So, the goal for us as professors is to show them how being a business reporter can be fun and interesting.
By the end of the semester, you will have turned these students into wannabe business reporters.

Having fun teaching business reporting

About those SEC filings
I strongly believe that you need to expose students to SEC filings, but it can be done in an entertaining way.
Give them 10-Qs, 10-Ks and proxy statements for companies that they know.
Examples: Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Buffalo Wild Wings, etc.

It also helps if you can find SEC filings where it’s easy for the students to find something interesting.
Example: The Coke 10-Q that details how much it’s spending to call the Houston Astros’ stadium “Minute Maid Park.”
They will get frustrated if they don’t find anything.

When it comes to proxy statements, show them what you can find out about people.
My brother-in-law is the CFO of Theragenics, a public drug company.
Let them look up his salary, his stock benefits, and other compensation.

Private company information
The same concept applies when teaching students how to find information about private companies.
One practice I like to show students is how to look up the value of CEO homes in the area.
They’ll end up looking up the value of your home, but who cares?

Students also like to see documents that they may have never seen before.
These can be divorces, or affidavits.
Ask them to go to www.SmokingGun.com and find a document that has a business connection.

One that every journalism student will enjoy is http://www.netronline.com .
From this web site, they can look up the value of their professor’s house.
Can also look up the value of their friend’s house.

Story assignments
Can you come up with unusual or offbeat story assignments for them?
At W&L, had students write stories about truffle maker in town that had been featured in WSJ.
They got to compare their stories to the best business journalism in America.

Class exercise strategies

Guess the economic data
There can be nothing more deadly dull to students than economic data.
Find out what dates something like inflation or unemployment is going to be released.
The class before, asks students to estimate what they think the number will be.
Winner(s) gets bonus points on next writing assignment.

Guess the earnings
The same type of exercise can be done with corporate earnings.
Pick a major company, such as IBM, GE or Ford.
Have students estimate EPS earnings for the quarter.
My favorite is Progressive, since it offers no earnings guidance.

Use examples that they know
On the first day of class, show them a copy of Fortune magazine with pop singer Sheryl Crow on the cover and ask them if this story is their preconceived notion of business writing.
Then show them a copy of Time magazine with whistleblowers from Enron and WorldCom and ask them if that is their preconceived notion of national news.

Use examples that they know
What does this do?
Emphasizes that the line between business reporting and traditional news reporting is blurring and that every news story has some sort of financial angle .
Also opens students’ eyes to the possibilities in business reporting.

Use examples that make sense
Break down the numbers in ways that the students can understand and by using examples they can relate to and understand.
When the economics reporting class discusses the Consumer Price Index, I use tangible examples.
I explain to them that when the CPI goes up, the cost of beer and chicken wings go up and the students don’t have as much money to spend on those items.

Use examples that make sense
When the business reporting class reviews an income statement for a company and then writes a story about it, students are taught to look at the revenues and profits for a company such as Coca-Cola in this way:
Revenue is the money that consumers around the globe pay to buy six packs and 12 packs of Coke beverages.
Profit, or net income, is the money that Coke has left over after it pays its salaries and bills.

Ask for examples
Discovered one semester that I had a student from Houston whose father had worked for Enron.
Ask students what companies their parents or relatives work for, and what they think about the coverage of those businesses.

Other tactics

Classroom demeanor
Prefer to have the classroom serious, but not afraid to mention funny or humorous events to make a point.
Compare CEO compensation when discussing proxy statements to how much I am making as a professor.
Discuss construction problems on campus paid for by state bond issue when discussing bonds.

Ethics
Don’t be afraid to take students down memory lane.
Ask them how they would handle ethical situations such as being offered tickets to a sporting event.
Provide examples of business journalism ethics codes.

Mistakes
Don’t be afraid to talk about the worst mistakes you’ve ever made as a journalist.
Shows the students that you’re a human being.
Also explain to them how you worked to prevent mistakes from happening again.

Stump the professor
If you feel comfortable in your business journalism knowledge, ask students to bring in questions each class period.
If you can’t answer the question, then you cut the class period short by 5 minutes.
If you get the answer correct, then class stays for entire class period.

Professor vs. the class
Can you have another professor come up with a business news current events quiz and administer it at beginning of class?
If you get more answers right than the class, then writing assignment at end of class.
If they get more answers, then no writing assignment.
Eventually, they’ll still do all writing assignments.

Field trips
Kansas business reporting class visits the Fed in Kansas City.
Columbia students go to the stock exchange and trading floors.
Can you take your students to a brokerage office and hold class there on a day that you talk about the stock market?

Field trips
What about holding class in the boardroom of a local company on the day you discuss management and boards?
Or, even better, can you arrange your students to attend a company’s press conference if it’s in the area?

The end
Never thought that business journalism was boring.
Like other beats, there was always something new each day.
Your class should be the same way.
If they look forward to coming to class, then they want to learn.

Resources and keeping students interested - Reynolds Week 2011

by Reynolds Center for Business Journalism

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Resources and keeping students interested - Reynolds Week 2011 Presentation Transcript