Book Review: Show Me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication 2nd Ed by Chris Roush

Abstract

Show Me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication. 2nd Ed. Chris Roush. New York and London: Routledge, 2011. 392 pp. $69.95 pbk.Chris Roush's Show Me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication is designed as a textbook for schools of journalism and business schools, offering conceptual guidance and practical examples to students and even to professional journalists on how to write on business and economics for modern mass media. It is a timely contribution in the current environment of academic criticism of the role of investigative and analytical journalism in missing the warning signs of the global financial crisis and serious misconduct by Western financial institutions.This criticism has amplified as the public in the United States and the United Kingdom continue to learn about the unhealthy and sometimes outright dirty business practices of some major Wall Street players. The book is written in classic journalist style with a number of real-life and short case studies to keep the readers intrigued and illustrate the work of business journalists in various professional situations.Roush is a Walter E. Hussmann Sr. Distinguished Scholar in business journalism at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a founding director of the Carolina Business News initiative. He is a veteran journalist with experience working with influential media outlets from St. Petersburg Times and Business Week to Bloomberg News, and with a goodly number of other assignments under his professional belt. The main goal of his book is to fill the gap in professional business reporting and business journalism as, he writes, ...higher education and mass communication have failed miserably in effectively training journalists for careers in business reporting.The issues of business writing and examples of high-profile case studies of large corporate deals, spectacular failures and particularly the global financial crisis have been well covered since the beginning of the global economic downturn in 2008 (Natalie Canavor and Claire Meirowitz, 2009; Ken Davis, 2010; Harvard Business School Press, 2011; Mark W. Tatge, 2010; Terri Thompson, 2000). Yet the author believes that his book can offer some additional insights and valuable suggestions to help to prepare the next generation of students to be better equipped for dealing with economic issues and nailing those Wall Street sharks who disregard business ethics and the interests of society.The sixteen chapters of this book can be subdivided into three sections. Chapters 1-4 cover some general issues and ethics of business journalism. The author highlights how at certain points in journalism history, U.S. reporters ignored major developments in the business world or became too cozy with it. Therefore, they were unprepared to fulfill the role of public watchdogs in difficult economic times by conducting deep economic research and producing comprehensive high-quality analytical materials. In fact, according to his data, 92 percent of executives and 72 percent of journalists and journalism academics were concerned about a reporter's knowledge of the businesses they were covering. Besides raising concerns about the need for better business writing education, the author introduces some ideas about mining for stories in different business sectors from banking and manufacturing to technology, new media, and investments. …