2001 News: SABEW President and Members Comment on September 11th Coverage

Letter from SABEW's President
Dear member:

SABEW hopes that you and your loved ones have survived this trying week. Our The Business Journalist newsletter is busy preparing stories for our next edition about business coverage of the horrible events of the week.
As a sneak preview, and possible help to your current work, we thought we'd share some thoughts and tips gathered from business editors across the country.

Also, click here for some web links to economics and markets coverage.

Bill Barnhart, Chicago Tribune Markets Columnist and SABEW President

"Keep the questions simple on the first-day reports. ... You can get into the impact of the events on a long-term basis later when more is known."--Greg Rohloff, Amarillo Globe-News

"A shopkeeper's statement that people don't feel like shopping at a time like this was, in a sense, a reflection of how our town was dealing with the situation."--Aki Soga, The Burlington Free Press (Vermont)

"I think the biggest challenge for us was trying to break through the "business as usual" front that many businesses try to erect at times like this." --David Holthaus, The Cincinnati Post

"In the heat of crisis, when news and ideas are flying fast and furious, figure out a way to keep everyone informed of the latest decisions." --Joan Zales, Colorado Springs Gazette

"Work closely with your copy editors who may be a bit stressed."--Julia Anderson, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington)

"One pain was battling erroneous assumptions that something likely was going on locally because it was happening somewhere else."--Rob Reuteman, Denver Rocky Mountain News

"Mobilize the staff, turn them loose. They want to work on these stories."--David Yates, The Gazette (Montreal)

"What we've tried to do, amid feelings of being isolated from this tragedy, is to overcome that and bring it home." --Stephanie Lee Kendrick, Honolulu Star-Bulletin

"We got ahead of what turned out to be a national phenomenon by guessing correctly that the attacks would spur a wave of patriotism. ... Think impacts -- emotional as well as economic."--Mike Maharry, The Idaho Statesman

"The biggest challenge was trying to sort out how to cover it responsibly but thoroughly while not simply rehashing all the dire predictions."--Jacalyn Carfagno, Lexington Herald-Leader

"Run too early with the meta-analyses and context pieces (or, heaven forbid, unforgivably crass bottom-line stories) and the audience will crucify you."--David Brancaccio, Marketplace Radio

"When planning coverage, think about restaurants. Airport restaurants: What's going on with all those eateries at the airports? How is added security affecting them? Will longer waits trigger more waits there? More drinking too? Or will the added hassles cut eating activity? You could certainly broaden that to all of the retail activity there.
Hotel Restaurants: If travel suffers, what about those restaurants affiliated with hotels? Does it look as if they might be taking a hit? How are they preparing?
High Rise Restaurants: Don't forget, Windows on the World Restaurants was at the top of New York's World Trade Center. Is there a revolving, roof-top restaurant in your area? How do the people feel about dining there now? What about the staffs at those places? Any nervousness? Did they know anyone at Windows?"--Dick Papiernik, Nation's Restaurant News

"Make sure you huddle with your staff early each day ... you'll be much better prepared for the large, newsroom-wide meetings, where a business desk can be tossed about like a very small boat on a very large ocean if it doesn't have plans of its own."--Ned Popkins, Orlando Sentinel

"We had trouble moving reporters around (town) and resorted to old-fashioned shoe leather."--Debbie Van Tassel, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

"This was simply a story no news person could ignore, in my view, no matter the focus of your news operation."--Bernard Dagenais, Potomac Tech Journal

"Let beat reporters talk to sources about what's going on."--John Kostrzewa, The Providence Journal

"Our business reporters continue to be the busiest reporters in the newsroom because this is essentially a business story."--Lisa Carricaburu, The Salt Lake Tribune

"Our downtown business core came to a standstill. ... We felt we needed to cover that, not so much from the perspective of commerce, but humanity."--Carla Savalli, Spokane Spokesman-Review

"Just trying to figure out what stories we should do now and what we should wait on was the toughest part."--Robyn Davis, St. Joseph News-Press (Missouri)