Nieman Reports

Summer 2002

Reporting on Business: Enron and Beyond

Cover for Summer 2002

Enron’s extraordinary collapse leapt into public view with banner headlines befitting the precipitous fall of a once mighty power. This was a company that not too long before its demise had been the business media’s poster child, praised for its “innovative” practices and consistently listed among the top American corporations. During these heady times, only a few reporters followed leads that eventually took readers past the media’s mostly laudatory words and into the reality of a company whose foundation was crumbling. – Melissa Ludtke, Editor

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Journalist’s Trade

Paying for the Next News: Ideas From a Conference

Summer 2002: Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2002

In October 2001, journalists, publishers, professors and media and stock analysts met for two days at Harvard University to discuss varying approaches to paying for the reporting and distribution of news in the years ahead. This conference—Paying for the Next … Read more

Newspapers and the Internet

By Clark Gilbert• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2002

Clark Gilbert, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School, studies entrepreneurship in large companies. In a recent study in which he worked with Clay Christensen, who has written about disruptive innovation, they spent two and a half years looking … Read more

Experiences With Internet Journalism

Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2002

Several journalists who have been involved with Internet journalism sites shared their experiences with the participants, some of whom also had ideas and questions about how publications and cyberspace might connect in more dynamic and profitable ways than they currently … Read more

Internet Interactions

Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2002

Participants had views and experiences to share about the intersection of mainstream media and the Internet. Edited excerpts of some of those comments follow. RELATED ARTICLE “Web … Read more

What Does Quality Mean?

Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2002

Quality can be an elusive term. It is one that conference participants struggled to explain, define and find ways to put into practice. What follows are edited excerpts that speak to various ways in which quality journalism is sought and … Read more

The Tug of Wall Street

Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2002

Few words were uttered more often during this conference than “Wall Street.” What follows are edited excerpts from various sessions, all of which focus attention on the tug that Wall Street’s demand for high profits and short-term outlook exerts on … Read more

News in the Land of the Giants

Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2002

After many years as a TV news reporter and producer, Tom Wolzien has for the past 10 years provided financial research on large publicly traded media companies to institutional investors including pension and mutual funds. He is now senior media … Read more

Future Possibilities

Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2002

Walter Bender is the executive director of the MIT Media Lab, where he directs the Electronic Publishing Group and is a member of the laboratory’s News in the Future consortium. He also directs Gray Matters, a group that focuses on … Read more

International Journalism: Asia

Watchdog Conference

Curator’s Corner

Nieman Notes

Masthead

Publisher
Bob Giles
Editor
Melissa Ludtke
Assistant Editor
Lois Fiore
Editorial Assistant
Paul Wirth
Design Editor
Deborah Smiley
Cover Story
The “E” is removed on one of the last Enron Field signs outside the baseball stadium in Houston, Texas. The Houston Astros bought back the naming rights from Enron for about $2.1 million in February. Photo by Brett Coomer/The Associated Press.

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