What Is Business Journalism?

Popular Examples
January 9, 2023 / 6 minutes of reading
Discover what is business journalism and read about the origin and some popular examples of
this reporting today.

Business journalism refers to reporting, analyzing, and distributing information relating to

business and economic matters. Sometimes referred to as financial journalism, business
journalism includes everything from personal finance news to the latest public
interest stories concerning big businesses.

As many with a journalism career know, it’s a broad and varied genre, with personal finance,
investment news, and consumer reporting only a few of the topics under its banner.

The Importance of Business Reporting

If money makes the world go round, a mechanism as powerful as commerce should be of interest to
the public and monitored by news organizations and trained reporters.

Business reporters provide the public with valuable information about the world of business and
economics. This, in turn, allows them to make more informed financial decisions.

This type of reporting also functions similarly to other forms of journalism; it keeps those in powerful
positions accountable for their actions.

The Northwestern Business Review touches upon this in an article entitled ‘Business
Journalism More Relevant now Than Ever’. There, they discuss the need for more business
journalists and why their work should be valued more. It reads:

“Reporters and editors… keep world and industry leaders accountable, and tell stories
about crime and justice to reinforce societal values”.

As great investigative journalism books argue, almost all reporting has a financial angle. This
argument states that because of this, nearly all journalists are business journalists to some
degree. This is a point that Raju Narisetti, professor and dean at Missouri School of
Journalism, made when he discussed the profession. He said:

“Money drives business and is at the core of every story… All journalists – whatever
the beat – should think of themselves as business journalists. There are good job
opportunities for those who work to truly understand the role of business in society
and effectively tell those stories.”
The Origin Of Business Journalism
Business journalism has a long history which dates back to the Middle Ages when small
business owners would communicate important information about trades. However, it wasn’t
until the 1500s when these conversations between business owners were recorded and
published. The first known place where this happened was Germany, where the Fuggers
family published newsletterswith business information that interested the business-owning
public.

These newsletters were published between 1568 and 1604 and are considered by many to be
the birth of print business journalism. Of course, they mostly contained information about
the availability and the price of goods. However, according to the historian George
Matthews, some also included “reports of those who have heard the echo of events as they
reverberated through the markets of the world”.

In other words, they discussed and analysed how local and global events affected the
business. These publications set in motion a journey toward what we know as business
journalism today.

The Business Journalism Emergence And Growth

The Fuggers’ newsletters established an appetite for business coverage. In fact, by the time
the 1700s came around, economic reporting had grown to a new level.

It was a decade when newspapers in both England and the American colonies began running
stories detailing information about ships entering and leaving the ports.

It was also a time when the first ‘price currents’ appeared in newspapers. ‘Price currents’ were
where the price of goods available in a town or city were listed. It wasn’t long before the
United States had its first business newspaper too. In 1793, The New-Hampden Journal, also
known as the Farmers’ Weekly Museum, began publishing.

This was quickly followed by The New York Price Current in 1795. This publication ran for 100
years, incorporating details of financial markets and the stock market into its content. Then,
other papers started running their business sections. The first daily newspaper in the US to
do this was the New York Herald. They began publishing a dedicated business stories section
in 1835.

The Chicago Tribune was another paper that installed a business section. Henry Demarest
Lloydbecame its financial editor, and he became known for publishing in-depth news stories on
business corruption.
It was also when some of the most prominent business journalism publications we know today were
founded. First, there was The Economist in 1843, then The Financial Times in 1888, and then, The
Wall Street Journal in 1889. Read our Wall St. Journal review to learn more.

Over a short period, business journalism moved from the periphery of media to claim its place as an
integral part of local, national, and international news coverage.

Business Journalism Today

Of course, most of the above relate to print journalism. However, business reporting has since gained
its place on every platform. CNBC, Fox Business and Bloomberg News are just a few of the
prominent television channels that focus on business news. They have a dedicated following, with
huge numbers watching their programming every day.

Meanwhile, according to MuckRack, the most popular online business journalism outlet in
the United States is the New York Times’ DealBook. CNN Business and Yahoo Finance
complete the top three list of US business news outlets. The numbers reading online
business journalism are in the millions and constantly rising.

In fact, business breaking news is being distributed everywhere, from print to radio, to
television, and the web. It is one of the most popular and prominent news genres.

The Future Of Financial Journalism

Despite this, there is some worry that more needs to be done to train future financial and
business reporters. Christopher Roush is a veteran business journalist and dean of the School
of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He published a book
entitled The Future of Business Journalism: Why It Matters for Wall Street and Main Street. His
book discusses some of his worries about the future of business journalism.

He touched on one such concern in an interview with The Observer. It was here he discussed
his alarm around degree programs and graduate school programs not preparing future
business journalists for the profession. He said:

“I devote a whole chapter to the fact that colleges and universities are not doing a
good job in educating journalists on the importance of business and economics
coverage. There’s maybe a dozen universities in this country that teach business
journalism with any rigor. We make sure everybody learns how to cover education
and cops and government. But business and economics is just as important to
society.”
Roush also discussed the importance of ensuring equal access to information in regards to
financial journalism. He believes this doesn’t currently exist and is helping create inequality.
He added:

“Business journalism has resulted today in what I call a dissemination divide. For the
people who can afford to pay thousands of dollars to subscribe to the Wall Street
Journal, or even pay for a Bloomberg terminal, can get the business and the
economics news that they need.

“But it’s the 99% of us, the 30 million small business owners and the millions of
consumers out there, who are no longer getting the business and economics news
that they need to make important decisions either about their companies or about
their personal lives”.

Newsrooms are essential in ensuring all entrepreneurs and those who want to access news
about the local and global economy can access it. However, the current media business
model often blurs the line between reporting and business. No easy answers exist!