Business journalism is the branch of journalism that tracks, records, analyzes and interprets the economic changes that take place in a society. It could include anything from personal finance, to business at the local market and shopping malls, to the performance of well-known and not-so-well-known companies.

This form of journalism covers news and features articles about people, places and issues related to the field of business. Most newspapers, magazines, radio, and television news shows carry a business segment. However, detailed and in depth business journalism can be found in publications, radio, and television channels dedicated specifically to business and financial journalism.

Business journalism began as early as the Middle Ages, to help well-known trading families communicate with each other ^[1]. In 1882 Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser begin a wire service that delivered news to investment houses along Wall Street. ^[2] And in 1889 the Wall Street Journal began publishing.^[3] While the famous muckraking journalist Ida Tarbell didn't consider herself to be a business reporter, her reporting and writing about the Standard Oil Co. in 1902 provided the template for how thousands of business journalists have covered companies ever since.^[4] Business coverage gained prominence in the 1990s, with wider investment in the stock market. The Wall Street Journal is one prominent example of business journalism, and is among the United States of America's top newspapers in terms of both circulation and respect for the journalists whose work appears there.

A journalist who works in this branch is considered a business journalist. Their main purpose is gathering information about current events in the economic life of the country. They may also cover processes, trends, consequences, and important people, in business and disseminate their work through all types of mass media.

[edit] See also

• Gerald Loeb Award, the most prestigious honor in business journalism
• Forbes
• Financial Times
• Nihon Keizai Shinbun
• The Weekend City Press Review

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.bizjournalismhistory.org/main_frame.htm
2. ^ http://www.bizjournalismhistory.org/main_frame.htm
3. ^ http://www.bizjournalismhistory.org/main_frame.htm
4. ^ Chris Rousch, "http://www.businessjournalism.org/pages/biz/2008/05/taking_on_the_trust/" in a review of the book 'Taking on the Trust' by Steve Weinberg