University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The (Raleigh) News & Observer
Chris Roush, Professor and Director, Carolina Business News Initiative
Mary Cornatzer, Business Editor
April 15, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-CH - 21 juniors and seniors enrolled in JOMC 152 Business Reporting
What were the key issues discussed at the roundtable?
The key issue discussed was the fact that many people in the drug industry don't look to the News & Observer for their coverage of their companies because they don't think it's a credible news organization. The specific complaints focused on a lack of context in the articles in the newspaper about the drug industry, inaccuracies and other factual errors, and the fact that key points are often missed.
Were some issues more important to readers, viewers, story subjects and sources? If so, what were they?
The context and the factual errors seemed to be most important to readers. Some of the roundtable participants had written letters to the editor of the paper about this issues in pharmaceutical industry stories.
Were there important points of agreement on coverage approaches or news philosophy that would improve the newspaper's content and its credibility? What were they?
One of the suggestions that was made was for the newspaper to have a panel of scientific experts who could review articles about the drug industry before they were published simply for accuracy. Another was to encourage reporters to call the companies and run by statements or other parts of an article to ensure accuracy.
Were there points on which roundtable participants agreed to disagree? Where were they?
Some of the roundtable participants said it was not their business to alert the business desk to errors in articles, while other participants said they would go out of their way to let the editors and writers know when there was a mistake so that it wouldn't occur again. Those in favor of letting the newspaper know of these errors called it their "social responsibility."
Will the newspaper consider changes in its coverage of the roundtable issue, or in its news philosophy, as a result of the discussions? What changes? (Professors should consult with their key editor contact to answer this and other questions referring to the newspaper's actions.)
Yes, the newspaper is considering these changes, including the panel of scientific experts. Another suggestion made that is being considered is to add another reporter to the beat. As one person on the panel noted, health care makes up 12 percent of the country's gross domestic product, yet the business section only devotes 6 percent (1 out of 12 reporters) to the industry.
How has the newspaper informed its readers of the roundtable, what happened there and what may occur because of the discussion?
Ted Vaden, who is the public editor of the News & Observer, is expected to write a column about the discussion at the roundtable and how it occurred on Sunday, April 24, in the News & Observer. His column can be found at www.newsobserver.com/opinion/vaden/
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CLASS AND THE STUDENTS:
What did your students learn from putting on a roundtable?
I think these students learned how valuable it is to have readers tell you what they think about your stories and your newspaper. This was the most valuable lesson. I got the impression before we undertook this project that many of them had never thought about asking readers for feedback after an article was published. I also think it was important for them to see a paper like the News & Observer welcome such interaction from readers who had an expertise in the field in which we were discussing coverage.
What worked well in having the students organize and facilitate the roundtable?
From the professor's viewpoint?
I was surprised that all but one of the invited roundtable participants showed up. I had heard from other roundtable leaders that you needed to invite twice as many as you wanted. So I thought that worked well. I also thought that having the students collect the articles about the drug industry from the past two months and sending those to the participants was another smart move because it got the students thinking about what had been in the paper and how it had been played.
From the newspaper's viewpoint?
The newspaper realized that this was also a learning lesson for the students and was willing to have them participate in this exercise. They did that because they realized that their involvement likely means they will become better, more conscientious journalists in the future.
What would you do differently if you had another class work on a roundtable?
Not schedule it in the same semester in which the class was doing another project. Two weeks before this, the class participated in a mock news conference competition against students from our business school. That took a lot of their time as well. I probably overburdened them with two major outside-of-class events in such a short time span.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NEWSPAPER:
What was important for the university to offer to gain the newspaper's cooperation?
The University offered the neutral space to hold the roundtable as well as all of the organizational logistics. All the business editor and the ombudsman had to do was show up and listen.
What was important for the newspaper to provide to help the university and the professor?
The newspaper gave us a list of some names of people that they thought would be interested in participating in the roundtable. That was a good starting point to invite people. The newspaper also agreed to participate on what is a touchy subject for many people in the drug industry due to recent negative press about Merck/Vioxx and Pfizer.
Do you have any other advice for professors who would like to do a roundtable? If so, please include it here.
Make sure you get the newspaper involved early. I started talking to the News & Observer back in late September, but it wasn't until early January that I received the official OK for their cooperation.
I think my class was too big as well. Some of the students carried more of the load than others as a result. This would likely work better with a smaller class.
Contact information
Chris Roush: croush@email.unc.edu
Mary Cornatzer: corn@nando.com