Money Hungry

As the journalism industry looks to hire the younger generations, African American students are being encouraged to consider specializing in business journalism, one of the most stable parts of the industry.

“Students don’t look into business journalism because they don’t know what they don’t know. Students see stocks and become scared of the concept.”

Professor Mair a business journalism professor at Hampton University said his thoughts on why students do not pursue business journalism.

Mair fell in love with business journalism when he began his job at Inside Business and worked there for over 10 years and worked his way up to become Editor-In-Chief. In 2017, Mair then was offered to work as a Professor for business journalism at Hampton University and was then hired as assistant Dean in 2019.

“I became drawn to business journalism because it was an opportunity, and it was a good way to diversify my resume. I wanted to look beyond and see the business aspect of journalism.”

Mair now helps students write and create stories that interests them and teaches them how to put a business aspect into every story they write. Mair even has helped students get jobs at Bloomberg, one of the top business and data analysis news outlets in the world.

“I teach my students that money and numbers is everywhere,” Said Mair.

“If you like sports, how much money is your team bringing in? if you like fashion, how is your favorite clothing line doing in sales?”

During the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists Virtual Convention there were breakout sessions for students and aspiring journalists to explore different aspects of journalism. News outlets were there trying to recruit African American students to consider a career in business journalism.

“There needs to be more people who look like me covering Business News.” Said Amber Burton a reporter from The Wall Street Journal.

“There are many times when I’m the only Black woman in the room and I want to see more,” Said Burton.

Burton began her career early after graduating from Wake Forest University, she then earned a full-time job as a field reporter at The Wall Street Journal.

A report done by the Pew Research Center showcased that African Americans are underrepresented within newsrooms already and only, “7% of newsroom employees are black and only 11% of U.S. workers overall are black.”

This makes it less likely to have African Americans covering business news.

“I attended the Society of American Business editors and Writers conference and one thing that struck me while there: the lack of people of color at the conference,” said Christopher Nelson, a freelance journalist, in his article titled, Where Are The Journalists of Color Covering The Business Beat?

The need for more diversity covering business news has not gone unnoticed to top Business News outlets such as Wall Street Journal leading to some reporters speaking out on how there needs to be an increase of representation.

“We as an industry need more. I became the Indianapolis Business Journal’s first Black reporter back in 2014. It’s a shame that that’s still happening in the 21st century, especially when race is such an important and consequential topic,” said Jared Council a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

“We need minority editors and writers who not only understand the nuances of covering race,” Council said. “But we also need them to understand the nuances of managing minority employees especially within business journalism.”

Top business news outlets such as Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney, and Financial Times have noticed the need for change after racial upset within the country was brought to light forcing many news outlets to release statements on diversity within their workspaces.

“At Bloomberg, diversity and inclusion are an intrinsic part of who we are,” Said Founder of Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg. “We strive for excellence in everything we do, so naturally we strive for excellence on Diversity and inclusion.”

Many hope to see more representation not just within newsrooms covering business journalism, but many also hope to see representation within the managing and editor positions as well.

“What they don’t realize is money makes the world go round, so there is always going to be a need for business journalism” Said Mair.

There is still a need for more reporters covering business news, and as the years continue many will be waiting to see if there will be an increase not just in the reporters covering business news, but in the diversity of journalists.