Business reporters at newsletters

I’m spending tomorrow, Oct. 7, in Rockville, Md., at the headquarters of United Communications Group, which publishes newsletters in a number of industries. Although many in the field don’t think of these newsletters as being business journalism, my understanding is that some of these publications do some very hard-hitting stories on the industries that they cover and are probably more in tune with what they’re writing about than a lot of business reporters at newspapers and magazines.

Earlier this year, UCG hired Lisa Getter to be its editorial director. Lisa is a long-time journalist who has won a Pulitzer Prize. So it’s obvious that this company is committed to good journalism. I’m be talking to a group of nearly three dozen reporters and editors about finding information on private companies, reading SEC filings, and investigative business journalism.

SABEW hasn’t really reached out to publications like this. They aren’t part of the annual Best in Business competition, and I don’t remember more than one or two newsletter reporters ever showing up to a SABEW event. Maybe it’s time we started paying more attention to these types of publications and bringing them into the fold. I think they can learn something from more mainstream business journalists — and vice versa. And that would be a good thing.