Portrait of Venezuela’s Economic Collapse


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    In Venezuela, economics has become a matter of life and death. With inflation projected to top 1,600% next year and strict currency controls preventing the import of most basic goods, the country’s oil-dependent economy verges on total collapse. This fall, veteran New Yorker staff writer William Finnegan was dispatched to Venezuela to cover the ongoing economic crisis there. Finnegan recently discussed his experience reporting and writing the piece with Covering Business’s Keith Griffith.

    Deciphering the Trump Foundation


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    Veteran Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold spent the better part of a year poring over tax filings, legal records, and conducting hundreds of interviews in an effort to shed light on Donald Trump’s charitable foundation. Fahrenthold spoke with Covering Business’s Keith Griffith about the genesis of his reporting.

    Business Journalism Leaps into Virtual Reality


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    Virtual reality journalism is rapidly emerging. According to some estimates, the market will be worth $4 billion and capture over 150 million viewers by 2018. Of all the potential areas of coverage, business journalism probably presents the biggest challenge. We offer some tips for beginners and an inside look at how some publications are tackling the new medium.

    Trading Your Pen For Podcasting


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    Over the past decade, the number of listeners aged 12 and over in the U.S. who tune into a podcast at least once a month has gone from zero to 21 percent. Listeners tend to be young, affluent and well educated—a highly coveted audience for publications to reach. Business podcasts are among the most popular for audiences and more publications are asking their print veterans to take up the mic and translate stories to audio. We offer a few tricks of the trade for journalists starting out.

    Protecting Your Source in the Digital Era


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    Digital conversations over email, text or even the phone are vulnerable to tracking and hacking. And although some beats are more prone to attacks—war coverage, technology, national security, anything investigative—shielding sources is responsible journalistic practice for any reporter. Knight-Bagehot fellow and former Los Angeles Times reporter Tiffany Hsu put together a primer on how to chat safely online in an age of hackers and surveillance.

    Green and Clean: How to Cover Renewable Energy


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    Renewable energy is a beat that’s full of compelling stories for journalists to tell. Tales of prospectors, abandoned projects and risk-taking cowboys abound. But because so much of the technology is new and the subject so heavily politicized, it can be tough to get the real story. Tiffany Hsu, former reporter for the Los Angeles Times and a recent Knight Bagehot fellow, breaks it down for us.

    Behind the Story

    Time Warner Center © dgphilli
    Shell Games: Following the Money in High Priced Real Estate

    It took New York Times investigative reporters Louise Story and Stephanie Saul a year to uncover the

    On the Beat

    Congolese soldiers ©The Enough Project
    The Blood in Your Phone: Covering Conflict Minerals

    The Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern region has been ravaged by mineral-fueled violence for de

    Skills and Tradecraft

    Two boys carrying a bucket of water to their home from the water well in the small town of Tabora in Tanzania, East Africa. ©Adib Roy
    Investigative Technique: Engaging Your Target

    Lessons from an investigative reporting project on the World Bank.

    Tools & Resources

    Doctor visit ©Laura Smith
    Mining Obamacare for Great Business Stories

    The Affordable Care Act has reshaped the business landscape, creating new business hurdles and oppor

    Week in Review

    Weapons haul seized by African troops in Afghanistan. © Defence Images
    Profiting the Taliban, China Break Down, Universal Basic Income

    The New Yorker investigates how for profit military profited the enemy in Afghanistan; Bloomberg bre