The Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP), in collaboration with the PUP Journalism Guild (JG), held a seminar titled “Understanding Business and Economics Journalism through the Lens of EJAP,” highlighting the relevance of business journalism at the College of Communication Audio-Visual Room (COC AVR) on June 8.
(Photos from Ejap Pilipinas/Facebook & Charles Vincent Nagaño/The Communicator)
EJAP President and Reuters News’ Neil Jerome Morales, The Daily Tribune’s Maria Bernadette Romero, and Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Jordeene Lagare as the resource speakers, emphasized how business stories are essential in making informed decisions affecting consumers, businessmen, important sectors, and the country’s economy.
Professor Aileen Camille Dimatatac also echoed the call that journalists will play a crucial role in bridging complex business stories to the public, allowing them to easily digest and decipher highly technical data, which will help them understand and navigate how business-related topics might impact them.
“Business journalism is often regarded as the most boring beat in journalism, even some journalists are not interested in these kinds of stories. But, this is crucial—it is part of [the] daily life of everyone because everyone participates in the economy in terms of consuming resources,” Dimatatac said in her opening remarks.
Not a boring beat
Business journalism is defined during the forum as an essential tool in making wise decisions on businesses, various sectors, and the country’s economy and policies.
The speakers said that it is often denoted as "the most boring beat" in journalism because it is less dramatic, contains numbers and jargon, and has highly technical terms. However, they believed otherwise, affirming that business journalism is a beat that is not boring.
Morales, during his talk “Show Me the Money: Business Journalism 101,” stressed that business news is one of the most dynamic and demanding fields in journalism, as these present stories relevant not just to consumers, but also to the economy-governing bodies.
He further emphasized that business journalism matters for everyone as it is in business news where consumers, business people, various sectors, and government bodies get news updates related to the economy, market, investments, and government policies.
As business journalism also talks about money, Morales noted that this beat helps the public know how money works and how they and other organizations handle it properly.
According to him, stories of changes, updates, and currencies in the business field can also impact everyone, especially the public as they are the consumers of products and services.
“We should care about business journalism, it is about you,” said Morales, citing that business journalism is all-encompassing, affecting consumers and all the essential sectors in the country.
Contrary to the misconception that business journalism only focuses on stories on business corporations and companies, he also clarified that the beat also covers business-related government agencies, such as the Department of Finance (DOF), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Meanwhile, Morales’ discussion also encompassed the common challenges faced by the business journalism beat. According to him, this includes the proliferation of deep fakes, unverified information, and distrust of the media.
He further stressed, “Kaya maraming nai-scam kasi maraming hindi nagbabasa ng business stories—ng business journalism.”
“Ang kagandahan sa business journalism, mayroong dokumento, mayroong ebidensya,” he said, pertaining to utilizing companies’ financial statements, cash flows, and balance sheets, which can be found at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for sources and verification purposes.
Vital as political news
In the third leg of the forum, Lagare, a COC alumna and a business reporter, differentiated business news and political news in her talk “A Peek into Business Journalism.”
She explained that these two journalism beats possess similar natures in terms of format, contribution to policy-making, and exposing illegal activities.
However, unlike political news that is “full of drama, sometimes sensationalized, and possesses a hard news style,” Lagare stated that business news leans more towards tracking and interpreting technical data, economic reports, and business and financial activities, then translating them into a simpler and coherent manner for the general public.
Despite these differences, she exclaimed during her presentation, “Business journalism is equally important as political news.”
Lagare further asserted that this beat caters to the “so, what?” factor, insisting that writing for business does not end by presenting numbers and data but by providing context to the story.
She also said that business journalism follows where the money goes as this keeps the world, in her terms, “go round.”
“Pera ang umiikot sa mga bansa, sa mga gobyerno, [at] sa buong mundo. Kasi kung walang pera, walang investments, wala tayong eskwelahan, wala tayong mall, wala tayong drugstore, wala tayong [online shopping sites]—pera ‘yan—[at] ‘yan ang pinaka core ng business reporting,” she stated.
Behind the business byline
On the other hand, Romero, also a COC alumna, showed how a business reporter’s day goes in her discussion “A Day in a Life: Business Journo Edition.”
She illustrated her day-to-day work activities as a business journalist as a repetitive cycle—where they start by checking updates from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), then travel to coverage sites, write stories, end it by submitting outputs, and then repeat.
Romero also shared her experience that sometimes, their mornings are allotted to digging into a pile of documents, afternoons for writing stories, and nights for pulling an all-nighter.
Despite this tedious routine, Romero said “We do this to keep producing business stories and keep the print media alive.”
Thus, she centered her discussion on how business journalists play a crucial role in guiding people in their decision-making, holding those in power accountable, exposing unethical practices, and shaping public policies in the country.
“Lahat ng galaw ng mga cino-cover natin sa business ay directly affected tayo, especially ang pamumuhay natin,” Romero stressed as she said that business journalism also tackles economy, currency exchange, inflation, energy, and the likes.
She also believes that business journalism is tantamount to writing for the country’s economy and has a role in helping it flourish.
Hence, she encouraged student journalists to take part in business journalism, saying, “We have a crucial role in the economy, and we can do that through writing business stories.”
Moreover, during the program’s question and answer forum, the speakers were asked how student publications can start publishing business stories, responding that students can start scaling the area.
As per them, student journalists can begin by inquiring about how the university sustains its operations without charging tuition, checking its financial records to see if it has expanded or depleted over time, and immersing themselves in local business practices and community events.
They also cited how business journalism differs from public relations (PR) writing, “‘Yung habol mo ay ‘yung istorya. You need to focus on the issue, on the topic na gusto mong i-pursue,” Morales said.
Moreover, Romero affirmed that there is a need for a “fine line” between business and PR writing, whilst Lagare suggested that student journalists should not rely solely on the given press releases, emphasizing that it is a business reporter’s responsibility to write relevant stories.
Meanwhile, the program also catered to a mock press conference where student attendees acted as business reporters, allowing them to ask questions on given business-related scenarios.
The speakers concluded the event by persuading student journalists to pursue the field of business journalism, advising them that “experience is the best teacher,” as they will learn the business beat deeper by going outside the classrooms and immersing themselves in the field.
“Hindi talaga natin maco-cover in just three to four hours ang esensya ng business journalism, pero sana maging junction point [ang seminar na ito] para ma-consider ng PUP students ‘yung business journalism [...] at sana ma-enjoy niyo rin siya the way you enjoy ‘yung political news,” Lagare told her fellow PUPians.
Alongside the PUP JG, the seminar was also co-organized by third and fourth-year journalism students under the supervision of Business and Economics Journalism instructor, Prof. Dimatatac.
Article: Lyene Marie Darang & Niñajane Ponpon
Graphics: Lourence Angelo Marcellana
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