As someone who is very much interested in writing business/financial news, Business Day, from the New York Times might be one of my favorite verticals to follow. More than just reporting the stock market like a horse race, this vertical explains larger market trends and makes them relevant to the general population. Often times, the writers make typically hard to understand or “boring” business issues more interesting by centering them around a particular subject. It might be a family affected by the recession, a young couple selling their house in a recovering housing market or a student that’s worried about the rising cost of higher education. When it comes to writing business news for the general public, a lot can go wrong. Sometimes writers use too much jargon to the point where readers can’t keep up. Sometimes, they fail to make the story relevant to their audience and readers lose interest. Other times, writers fail to grasp the general business concept themselves, misinterpreting numbers or concepts that are vital to understanding the point of the article. I feel as though keeping up with this particular vertical can give me a lot of pointers and new techniques so that I can be a more effective business journalist.
