Coffee Break: SBJ aspires to old-fashioned journalism

Recently, in my capacity as managing editor, I have been trying to put into words my philosophy of the Business Journal as a newspaper. As part of SBJ's strategic planning for the future, it's important that I know exactly where I want to take our news coverage, and that I communicate that to my fellow journalists, to the Business Journal's management team, and to our readers.

Here is my take on what we do, and where we are taking the paper:

It is my ambition to practice old-fashioned journalism reporting that is based on facts and documentation, not spin.

A lot of people have nothing but scorn for the news media. And justly so. In many cases, it has become impossible to differentiate between news and entertainment, between real issues and sensationalism.

Many so-called news outlets have become little more than carnival barkers shills for the sideshow targeting the lowest common denominator and playing up the worst side of human nature for ratings and sales.

In some cases, the press watchdog has become the public relations lapdog.

That will not be the case with the Business Journal.

My plan for ensuring this is simple:

We will provide hard-nosed coverage and in-depth analysis, and we will present the facts in a straightforward, no-nonsense way.

We will tackle the issues that need to be understood by the business community, making the information clear, understandable and accessible.

We will firmly establish our role as a watchdog on public entities particularly local government. The way I see it, government is a business and every citizen is a shareholder. We will continually seek clarity and accountability from the public sector.

We will avoid sensationalism in our presentation. Instead we will strive to create a sensation with our honest approach to the issues a refreshing change from what most people have come to expect from news media.

We will not fall into the trap of prefabricated news. If we publish something and it comes from a press release, we will note that in our attribution. Our readers deserve to know the source of our information, whether it is something we generate as a news organization or it is provided to us in the form of a press release.

We will continue to share inspirational tales of success and profiles of successful and influential individuals, but with even greater depth, providing valuable insight and perspective on business. We will continue to focus on companies whose activities, performance, management philosophy or policies, innovative concepts or products, valuable industry insights, strength in adversity, etc. provide real-world examples of success in business.

However, that doesn't mean we will gloss over unpleasant realities and real issues. We don't want our sources to give away trade secrets or make themselves vulnerable to the competition, but we do want honesty about the conditions and issues in their business or industry.

Our readers will see coverage in this paper that may surprise, alarm or even anger them. We invite all comments, and are delighted to provide a forum for letters and guest columns on the issues.

My ultimate goal is for people to say, "If you really want to know what's going on in Springfield, you should read the Business Journal."