We Mean Business

Inside the award-winning investigation, Dying for Care

In this episode, host Megan Calcote shares a conversation Katherine Fitzgerald and Eddie Keller had with Pat Beall of The Palm Beach Post. Her award-winning investigation, Dying for Care, won the 2015 Bronze Award in the Barlett and Steele Awards for the best in investigative business journalism. Beall shares some of her advice for young journalists, what sparked this investigation, and why she enjoys her work.

Building winning business investigations

In this episode, hosted by Megan Calcote, Glenn Hall, Executive Editor at the Washington Post shares his tips for creating winning business investigations. In addition to discussing the importance of waving data into your story, Hall shares the other key elements that make a business investigation story stand out for readers. He originally shared these tips at Reynolds Week 2016.

Covering the marijuana industry, part 3

In the third and final part of our conversation on covering the legal marijuana industry, Ricardo Baca, editor of The Denver Post’s website The Cannabist; and Kevin Dale, executive editor of Arizona PBS’s Cronkite News, share their insights from covering the industry in Colorado. Megan Calcote hosts this episode highlighting the journalists’ experience testing the potency of edibles and calling out the brands that failed to meet their own advertised standards. They also discuss the shift in public opinion and how local control in Colorado has played out since legalization.
 
For more information about investigations into product potency or to learn about chemical and pesticide testing in marijuana, visit the stories below.
Edibles’ THC claims versus lab tests reveal big discrepancies
THC levels in edibles: See the lab tests
On testing THC in edibles: The story behind our pot report
Video: Contaminated marijuana sold at Oregon dispensaries

The business of the marijuana industry, part 2

In part two of covering the legal marijuana industry, host Megan Calcote highlights tips from Ricardo Baca and Kevin Dale that were presented during Reynolds Week 2016. Their discussion provides insights on seasonal sales trends, including the impact of tourism and the black market on the cannabis business in Colorado, and the complexities of an industry that is local at the state level but illegal federally.
Baca is the editor of The Denver Post’s website The Cannabist and Dale is the executive editor of Arizona PBS’s Cronkite News, who also directed pot coverage as a top editor at the Post. 
More information regarding the lawsuits discussed during the podcast can be found at the links below:
Judge tosses Denver marijuana credit union's suit for federal approval
Fourth Corner intensifies its fight to be first marijuana credit union

Covering the business of pot

In this episode of the How to Cover Money podcast, Megan Calcote reviews some of the tips on covering the legal marijuana industry that was originally shared at Reynolds Week 2016. The tips include the importance of highlighting the industry from a business perspective, including consumer trends, new businesses, and ancillary services, and the impact on the local community. These tips come from Ricardo Baca, editor of The Denver Post’s website The Cannabist; and Kevin Dale, executive editor of Arizona PBS’s Cronkite News, who directed pot coverage as a top editor at the Post.

Generating story ideas

Megan Calcote reviews some of the best tips for generating local story ideas by Jennifer Conlin, New York Times contributor and founder of Creative Voice. Conlin emphasizes the value of fresh perspectives, some observations she has made in her reporting and the importance of trusting your own instincts. Conlin originally shared these tips at SABEW 2015 during a session on covering regional economics.

Covering campaign finance

In this episode, Megan Calcote discusses some of the tips Leslie Wayne, adjunct faculty at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, shared during Reynolds Week 2016. Wayne shared tips on covering campaign finance including the added complexities after the Citizens United supreme court decision. Wayne explains the differences between PACs, Super PACs, and Leadership PACs, and emphasizes the importance of looking for donor motivations and spending patterns. Wayne concludes by sharing some of the best places to start digging for campaign finance data.

Databases you can use

In this week's episode, Megan Calcote compiles some of the databases and tips for using them that were shared during Reynolds Week 2016. The speakers highlighted are Steve Doig, data journalist and Knight Chair in Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Evan Wyloge, senior reporter at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. They each share some of the databases you can use for your business reporting and their methods for getting the most out of that data.

Everyone’s a business journalist

Welcome to Season 3 of How to Cover Money, presented by The Reynolds Center. This new season brings a new host, Megan Calcote, program coordinator for the Reynolds Center. This week's episode features Christopher Waddell, an associate professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario Canada, and his tips for business journalists. His tips were presented at the 2015 Canadian Association of Journalists conference.

Season 2's greatest tips

In the Season 2 finale of How to Cover Money, co-hosts Micki Maynard and Mark Remillard take a look back at some of the best tips they got from all of the amazing journalists that joined them this season. If you missed any episodes, feel free to circle back to any of our previous episodes and, of course, keeping thinking like a business reporter!