Tips for Effective Use of Numbers in Business Journalism: Consumer & Finance Reporting, High school final essays of Economics

Download Tips for Effective Use of Numbers in Business Journalism: Consumer & Finance Reporting and more High school final essays Economics in PDF only on Docsity! Numbers and statistics Business journalism Questions covered: 1 Some tips 2 Consumer vs. Personal Finance Put numbers in context Numbers enhance a story when they are able to represent something that has happened or compare and contrast one thing with another. So always provide an historical comparison for new economic, corporate and financial figures. Let’s have a look at these examples: The lead article of a newspaper about the impact of power shortage on the economy reading as follows: Power crisis has slowed the country’s economic growth to 5.6% in the second quarter of this year, compared to 6.8% recorded during similar period last year. Here another example where the reporter provides comparisons for the insurance premiums (https://en.trend.az/business/economy/2800687.html): Azerbaijan’s insurance companies collected insurance premiums in the amount of 368.92 million manats in January-August 2017 that is 3.6 percent more than in the same period of 2016, says a report of Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA), issued Sept. 25. During the period, payment of insurance claims totaled 167.06 million manats that is 22.1 percent more than in the same period of 2016. By contrast this story about Georgian exports to EU countries two years after EU trade deal (http://www.investor.ge/article_2016_5.php?art=3) The past two years have been a starting point for a long trip, said Mariam Gabunia, Head of Department for Foreign Trade and International Economic Relations at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. Over the past 24 months, Georgian products have been the most successful in Eastern European markets, she said. In 2015, for example, Georgian exports to Poland grew by 184 percent. Georgian companies are also finding their niche farther west. For example, there has been a 13 percent increase in Georgian exports to Ireland. Make numbers understandable to the audience Draw comparisons to visualize information about quantity, size and/or distance. 1 If, for example, you mention that the World Bank has approved a 73 million loan to Armenia, your audience would visualize this amount better if you compare that to total budgetary allocations to several ministries combined during particular financial year. E.g.: What is the percentage change for Blue Saperavi winegrower’s 2015 and 2016 annual revenue? Per capita Per capita is Latin for each head. This helps in the case of the wealth of a country, for instance. You don’t get the full picture if you are told the gross domestic product (GDP: total wealth produced in a year) of Country A is USD 100billion and Country B USD 50billion. Because Country A might have twice as many people in it as Country B. This would mean their per capita GDP is equal. When it comes to writing the story, there are several guidelines for the most effective use of numbers: 1. Make the numbers serve the story not the other way around. Think: what is the story about? And then, at first, answer without using any numbers. That way you will stop yourself from being enslaved by the numbers. In other words, think of the numbers as instruments for telling the story, not as the substance of the story. 2. If you think the numbers are essential to understanding the story, don’t have more than two in a lead. Nowadays the practice is to have the Why? and the So What? in the lead and no numbers at all. Ron Lieber, who covers personal finance for the New York Times, says: “I’m trying to get people reading who wouldn’t normally look at a personal finance column. That means using plain English, writing like I talk, avoiding jargon, trying to be funny or deploying mild stunts on occasion, telling stories— instead of giving orders from on high—and redefining personal finance way beyond just investing to topics that hit you in the wallet but you might not expect to be reading about in a personal finance column.” “Service” journalism falls into two basic categories: consumer reporting and personal finance journalism In 1990, Chris Roush wrote a story for the business section of the Tampa Tribune about how the state’s largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, had denied coverage to a Cuban native living in Tampa because he didn’t speak or read English, meaning he couldn’t read the company’s policies to understand what he had purchased. After the story ran, the company announced the next day that it would begin developing programs to help Spanish speakers purchase policies. All it took was one article and some phone calls by a reporter to the state insurance department.