The Reynolds Center has announced its 2008 fall workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
The Reynolds Center has opened registration for select 2008 free online seminars.
Topics include:
*Intermediate Business Journalism
*Covering Private Companies
*Business Journalism Boot Camp
It seems enough time has passed since year-end lists peppered every business magazine. Readers are getting another go-around of who ranks among "The Best" -- and why.
The famous Fortune 500 list celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. In the April 5 issue, Fortune magazine features a photo essay looking back at key companies that shaped business over the years and a series of articles profiling the ones that are innovating for the future. In "The Year of the Comeback," writer Janice Revell details how the Fortune 500 roared back with record revenues and profits. Topping the list this year is -- you guessed it -- Wal-Mart Stores.
Forbes, which comes out with a similar list, tried something new this year. In the April 12 issue, the magazine combined the ranking of American companies that it has published every spring for 35 years with what used to be a separate list of foreign companies published in the summer. The reason? "Like it or not, the global economy will stay that way … Politicians still make an us-versus-them distinction, but consumers, employees and investors cannot."
The Forbes list of leading companies is still compiled the way it always was -- based on company size as measured by sales, assets, profits and market value. But the articles accompanying "The World's 2000 Leading Companies" delve into the contentious new business of globalization.
In particular, the magazine asks: Does Wal-Mart hurt Americans? There's no easy answer. While the company will buy $15 billion in goods from China this year, it will help middle-class Americans afford more. "Wall-To-Wall Wal-Mart" looks at how the world's biggest retailer is reaching around the globe.
BusinessWeek's turn. The BusinessWeek 50, featured in the April 5 issue, ranks the top performers in terms of sales and earnings growth in the S&P 500. No. 1 on this list -- auto insurer Progressive.
Fast Company featured a very different kind of list in its April cover story -- the casualties of globalization. "Look Into Their Eyes" explores outsourcing, or more precisely, offshoring jobs, from a different perspective -- that of the real people who have experienced it. The magazine shares the stories and photographs of 45 people who have been hurt by this trend.
Writer Jennifer Reingold believes that the issue of outsourcing has been debated in the abstract for too long. The devastating anecdotal evidence needs to be included in the discussion, she contends. Outsourcing may be good for businesses, but not for the employees caught in the middle with few options.
"We talked to people in pretty dire straits -- people selling their homes and losing their health insurance. They're going broke. They did all the right things and they've found themselves without a career or anything to fall back on," Reingold said. "You're 50 years old and you've always gotten good reviews at your job -- it's not so shocking that you'd feel secure."
It was once primarily the manufacturing industry that outsourced jobs to other countries. But now it's the service industry, which makes up two-thirds of the economy -- a much bigger portion than manufacturing ever was.
"This is being used as political football. Everyone has an opinion about whether outsourcing is good or bad. But no one is offering answers to the question: What are we going to do about it?" she said. "What responsibility do we have as a society to keep productive, hard-working, well-educated people from falling into poverty?"
Inc. magazine celebrates its 25th anniversary this month by listing "Twenty-five Entrepreneurs We Love" and profiling why each one exemplifies what it takes to succeed. The number one slot goes to Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, but the magazine also includes many lesser-known names, including Laima Tazmin, a teenager who runs a Web consulting business, and Lance Morgan, a Native American whose many businesses, from e-commerce to housing construction, provide hundreds of jobs for members of his tribe.
Barron's Online published its Mutual Fund Special Report on April 12, giving performance listings for more than 9,500 funds as ranked by fund-tracker Lipper and commentary on a rather ho-hum 1st quarter that saw the average U.S. equity fund up only 2.98%.
In the upcoming May issue, Kiplinger's Personal Finance -- the 25 best stock funds according to the magazine's analysis. The 14-page special report details the funds' past performance, costs and managers.
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
