To make the findings more reliable, the researcher created a codebook to categorize results. First, a number of common themes were identified based on the main questions asked during the interviews. Then, the answers were catalogued as the list evolved, which allowed the researcher to note similarities and differences between respondents.
Jeff Cox, CNBC
Challenges during the financial crisis: keep up with the flow of information, learning about new concepts in the market, explaining the new programs introduced by the government such as TARP, following the different moving parts of the giant story
Lessons learned: watch for warning signs when things are great, keep an eye for bubbles, be more vigilant about the system in general; think outside the mainstream
Changed they way he does his job: a little more vigilant now, keeps an eye out of bubbles Indicators watching now: the Fed flow of funds, ETFs, debt levels, distribution of debt, savings and the unemployment and the U6 number of underemployment
Observations re the business press: journalists got smarter about financial system and its threats, the press is better equipped to see problems with securitization products; too much skepticism
Overshooting: apply basic journalism principles and finding all sides of the story International news: we are getting more interconnected so it’s huge
Journalism sources: use own judgment on sources; access reporting is never a factor in his editorial decisions
Next crisis: there will be one and we will probably ask ourselves how did we miss it? Who is a business journalist: funny part of the media, the role is a little different; they do more about analysis than simple news gathering
Michael Hudson, International Consortium of Investigative Journalism
Challenges during the crisis: finding a mainstream publication to publish investigative work
Lessons learned: made me more skeptical about official pronouncements; talk to former employees at companies you are covering
Changed they way he does his job: more skeptical and learned to talk to former employees
Indicators watching now: skeptical of indicators
Observations re the business press: journalists should be more prepared; there is not enough skepticism in the media; the press is going back to its old model of less skeptical coverage; we need to broaden our definition of financial journalism
Overshooting: not our job to worry about the markets, our job is to report facts
International news: better sense of interconnection; paying more attention because of his job
Journalism Sources: still rely too much on high-level sources; we need to talk to people at different levels
Next crisis: the infrastructure is not in place for journalism skepticism
Who is a business journalist: mainstream business press serves investors; but it should also serve consumers and society as a whole
Jesse Eisiger, ProPublica
Challenges during the crisis: no public information on complicated products such as CDOs; the material was really hard to understand
Lessons learned: made him more skeptical, more humble about what he doesn’t know; can’t simply look at the data, one has to report on human beings; understanding about the global financial system hasn’t changed
Changed they way he does his job: more skeptical and humble
Indicators watching now: not one in particular, volatility and the VIX
Observations re the business press: there was a brief moment when there was more investigative coverage, now it’s gone; there have been some improvements, people understand the financial system better
Journalism Sources: business journalists are beholden to sources, journalists use same sources.
International News: not more than before Next crisis: assumes that it will be missed
Who is a business journalist: serves investors; but he thinks about what’s important for society
Paul Steiger – ProPublica, WSJ
Challenges during the crisis: didn’t have an experienced financial reporter on the team; Lessons learned: if investments are too good to be true, they are; more skepticism but not cynicism;
Indicators watching now: fixed-income securities, bonds, derivatives Observations re the business press: they learned
Overshooting: journalists should never worry about spooking the markets Next crisis: journalists try but don’t succeed
Journalism Sources: better to lean toward accountability than access;
Who is a business journalist: all journalists should seek the truth for public but business j- s care more about jobs, money and business leadership
Christine Harper, Bloomberg News
Challenges during the crisis: understanding how and what things can go wrong in banks Lessons learned: didn’t fundamentally change my job, made us smarter, more skeptical Changed they way he does her job: didn’t fundamentally change
Indicators watching now: China and emerging markets, debt markets
Observations re the business press: we got a lot smarter about the financial system; we understand what could go wrong and what are the sources of contagion; it’s still a
learning curve for beginners, I guide them; there s a lot of good investigative reporting at Bloomberg but it’s going to come from beat reporters most often
Overshooting: there is an important calculation to avoid speculation, journalists have to state facts and stick to what they know
International news: a lot more
Journalism sources: does not believe in access reporting
Business Journalist: all journalists have a responsibility toward the wider public
Adam Davidson, NPR
Challenges during the crisis: understand global system & technical parts
Lessons learned: global financial issues are going to be central to understanding the world; financial system is an active experimentation; we need to get better at warning people
Changed they way he does his job: what he learned, that why he started Planet Money!!!! Indicators watching now: fixed income, bonds;
Observations re the business press: more volume of news but not an injection into overall coverage; we need more; there is a minor incrementalism in the financial press
International news: lot less now than when he was international correspondent but we need more coverage of it
Journalism sources: never used access reporting, there are plenty of sources out there Next crisis: it’s unrealistic that we’ll call it
Business Journalist: technical specials that serves a narrow audience, but the broad audience needs more.
Peter Goodman, International Business Times
Challenges during the crisis: figure out stuff, he was new to the beat; it was not easy to figure it out (the crisis)
Lessons learned: learned how quickly contagion can spread and now understands global finance better; learned that there are humans behind the banks that lead the big decisions; he is more skeptical and suspicious; if people are not earning enough money, there are going to be credit bubbles
Changed they way he does his job: to be on the lookout for signs of economic health Indicators watching now: look at society’s traditional ways of earnings pays bills; wages, unemployment and the U6 number
Observations re the business press: more skeptical and smarter about the financial system and the interconnectedness; more people are writing about finance but fewer people are doing investigative work; journalism now is more about aggregation; we need more diversity in newsrooms; some are non-critical about the ppl in institutions
Next crisis: he is not optimistic we’ll do better on the next one
Who is a business journalist: depends, at general news publications business journalist should serve the public.
Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times
Challenges during the crisis: covering Washington when the story moved there Lessons learned: Washington is a lot more secretive; improved understandings of the global interconnections
Changed they way he does her job: not substantially
Indicators watching now: unemployment, mortgages and private data that’s given to investors
Observations re the business press: people got smarter about the financial system and the interconnections; seeing less business news stories in general publications like Times International: better understands how its related but not necessarily paying more attention
Journalism sources: lot of public available data, don’t believe in access reporting
Who is a business journalist: who can explain what is happening for the everybody; now more ppl are investing through 401k so responsibility is higher.
Dean Starkman, LATimes
During the crisis: the press was not fully understanding the nature of things covered Lessons learned since returning to newsroom: he is more skeptical
Changed they way he does his job: lessons learned
Indicators watching now: unemployment, wage growth; lack of demand
Observations re the business press: no big change, business as usual because there are fewer resources and a greater demand for news; press still out of touch; journalists got educated on the financial crisis
International news: lot more because of the nature of his work
Journalism sources: difficult balancing act to do access reporting and accountability coverage.
Bob Ivry, Bloomberg News
Challenges during the crisis: to go against public officials
Lessons learned: more skeptical and more confident – can argue with my boss; his frustration level is higher; understands the global financial system better; likes big stories Changed they way he does his job: not substantially but I’m more skeptical and
confident
Indicators watching now: indicators didn’t change – still asks: do I have a job, am I saving for my retirement and kids’ education?
Observations re the business press: nobody remembers the financial crisis; not sure that skepticism has grown; reporters don’t exercise the suspicion they ought to be; the greed for clicks in the media is damaging; I don’t know if things have changed; we have a post- crisis moral dilemma; press needs diversity and more communication; it’s a mistake to re-write press releases; the element of capture.
Overshooting: that’s bullshit
International news: broadened his understanding because of the nature of work but does not think any other country can cause a similar financial crisis
Journalism sources: he doesn’t know if they’ve changed but a solution is to change beats!
Stories he runs: does not run happy stories; like big corruption stories
Next crisis: he thinks we are headed in that direction and journalists are going to make same mistakes
Who is a business journalist: any different than any other journalist; we have huge responsibility to look after the government because the government is compromised by
money; responsibility toward the wider audience.
Results
1. Business journalists improved their understanding of the financial system and the global interconnections.
Smarter: Cox, Eisinger, Steiger, Harper, Davidson, Goodman, Morgenson, Starkman
Global interconnections: Cox, Hudson, Harper, Davidson, Goodman, Morgenson 2. Business journalists are a lot more skeptical today because of their
experience covering the financial crisis.
More skeptical: Cox, Hudson, Eisinger, Steiger, Harper, Goodman, Starkman, Ivry
Not enough: Hudson, Ivry, Starkman, Eisinger
3. Even though there was a lot investigative coverage during the crisis and few years after, signs of a lack of in-depth reporting on corporate America can be noticed.
Yes: Hudson, Eisinger, Goodman, Starkman, Ivry *Davidson (mainstream press paying too little attention to economics)
No: Harper
4. The business press needs more diversity and resources. Diversity: Davidson, Hudson, Goodman, Ivry
Resources: Starkman, Goodman
5. Business journalists are watching new indicators of economic health. New indicators: Cox, Steiger, Harper, Davidson, Goodman, Morgenson, Starkman
6. There is debate on whether business journalists should be concerned with overshooting.
Concerned: Cox, Harper Not concerned: Hudson, Steiger *Ivry (said “it’s bullshit”)
7. Journalists are paying more attention to what’s happening abroad but mainly in part because their current jobs require it
Yes: Cox, *Hudson (not because of the crisis), Harper, Starkman, *Ivry (not because of the crisis)
No: Eisinger, Morgenson, *Davidson (thinks we need more)
8. Business journalists say they prefer accountability journalism over access reporting.
Yes: Cox* (need to weigh the story sometimes), Steiger, Harper, Davidson, Morgenson, Starkman
No:
9. There is consensus that business journalists will miss the next crisis
Cox, Hudson *(not good journalism infrastructure), Eisinger, Steiger, Davidson, Goodman, Ivry
10. Business journalists should have a stronger sense of responsibility toward the wider public
Yes: Hudson, Eisinger, Steiger, Harper, Davidson, Morgenson, Ivry
*Hudson, Eisinger, Davidson still see biz journalists as catering to investors *Goodman said business journalists at general news publications should think about public interest