Economic and Business Journalism

The relationship between the economy and journalism is very much a question of chicken and egg: does the news affect the market, or does the market affect the news? Due to the profound permeability of information facilitated by the Internet, businesses have been forced to communicate to the public in new and innovative ways rather than rely upon financial journalists. Therefore, this book will not be limited to business journalism alone, but rather on business communications as a whole.

With the advent of online news, and rapid information sharing, the world of financial markets has become less opaque to the public, which can now monitor investments and stock markets in real time. “Coupling News Sentiment with Web Browsing Data Improves Prediction of Intra-Day Price Dynamics” shows the dynamic interplay between the economy’s performance and the public perception of it based on news readership. New attention is being paid to this, in an attempt to understand how market behavior operates in this world of information saturation. An example from Taiwan is offered in “A Study on the Asymmetry of the News Aspect of the Stock Market.” Despite the relative slowness of print media in reaching its audience, it still plays a part in shaping market behavior, as “Can an unglamorous non-event affect prices?” reveals. Of course, the subject of business journalism is not complete without a look into the news and its relationship to the recent global financial crisis. As other articles have highlighted, financial news does not operate in a vacuum. In fact, it can play a large part in stock market behavior, especially in cases of bad news. “Being on the Field When the Game Is Still Under Way. The Financial Press and Stock Markets in Times of Crisis” explores the correlation between the Wall Street Times and market volatility in 2008/2009. A fascinating case study into how news reports of the financial crisis affected disparate groups is offered in “The Global Crisis’ Impact upon China’s Rural Migrants,” in which the U.S. financial crisis set in motion a series of events in rural China: exports slowed, millions of Chinese workers were laid off, news reporting the layoffs reached rural villages, and civil unrest and even violence emerged in manufacturing hubs. Whereas banks and...