The SABEW conference in Chicago provided a group of MU journalism students an opportunity to hone their business reporting skills as they attended the lectures from the top business and economic reporters from across the U.S.
Founded in 1964, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Inc. is aimed to promote better coverage of business and economic relevant issues.
MU students attended the conference under the supervision of Professor Randall Smith and Martha Steffens.
One of the students from the MU group, Jiayue Cindy Huang, who also writes for the Missouri Business Alert and Columbia Missourian, said the conference provided her an opportunity to learn about business reporting.
“I have learned a lot from this conference. There are so many interesting lectures and speed networking programs which came as really helpful for a senior graduate,” Huang said.
Huang said she expects to be a well-trained journalist in future and SABEW has enriched her knowledge of business and economic reporting.
The editors and reporters from various media organizations including the Wall Street Journal, AP, Bloomberg, Reuters, National Public Radio, Chicago Tribune and New York Times attended the conference.
Two Alfred Friendly fellows hosted by the Press Partners organization based in the Missouri School of Journalism and headed by Professor Randall Smith, also attended the SABEW conference. The fellows, Tarun Shukla from India and David Herbling from Kenya are working at The Wall Street Journal and Chicago Tribune respectively as part of their fellowship assignment.
Kathleen Graham, Executive Director, SABEW said the conference was packed with newsmakers, CEOs, authors, economists, journalists and news managers.
“We hope that people who attend this conference, become able to cover stories and gain reporting and content skills. We also have great networking opportunities where journalists can meet other journalists in hopes to get new jobs or to just learn from their peers.”
Will Sutton, Director, Dow Jones News Fund, said conferences like SABEW are a wonderful resource for professionals and students.
“It’s not a matter of age, stage or position, it’s a matter of ongoing lifelong learning and education. Just in the short time that I have been at this conference at this time, I have learned at least five new things and it’s like the students have the opportunity to learn the same five new things.”
Sutton said there’s learning going on, you just have to be available, interested, and open to meeting the people who are also available to you. He advised students to network as much as possible in order to learn about future opportunities.