UNC Chapel Hill's School of Media and Journalism is expanding its North Carolina Business News Wire effort to Maryland, adding more students, and increasing the number of stories under the direction of business journalism professor Chris Roush.
"Far exceeded my expectations," says Roush. "We have posted more than 300 stories, and we have had about 100 or more pickups from media across the state. I didn’t expect that much pickup. It shows me there is an appetite for this news that is not being covered by the mainstream media."
And innovation is coming, too. Roush says NCBNW will work with Automated Insights in Durham and its Wordsmith (robotic) news software to possibly generate even more copy.
Also coming will be an end to free stories.
"Stay tuned," Roush says. "[Charging for the service] will happen over the summer with a fall launch."
Roush, a veteran business reporter-turned-academic, came up with the idea of using students to report real business news and launched the online site earlier this year. WRAL TechWire has been a frequent publisher of NCBNW stories, crediting students with "bylines." And a growing number of news sites across the state have joined in. NCBNW doesn't charge for the stories, but that may change as it continues to evolve, Roush tells WTW's Skinny.
"Next semester, a group of eight students will be expanding the wire into Maryland, where we’ve signed a client to publish all content produced on Maryland-based companies," Roush says.
"The students will be working in Chapel Hill under my supervision," he notes.
"We have 10 students now. Of those 10, one is graduating. Three will be returning, plus eight new students for next semester will give me a staff of 11. Half will work on North Carolina business news, and half will work on Maryland business news, with the three returning taking on bigger stories."
Roush and his team played host to journalists on the UNC-CH campus today to talk about the program. They also are looking for ideas and feedback about how they might do a better job.
NCBNW's reputation is spreading as proven by the Maryland move.
"I was approached by Ed Warfield of Baltimore City Biz List. He is the client. He will not be paying the first semester," Roush says when asked a series of questions about the deal.
"We have a plan to convert this summer to a pay model that will launch in the fall. That’s about all of those details I can divulge."
Roush isn't really surprised by the move, however. WTW embraced Roush's idea as soon as he broached it last fall. So, too, did Warfield.
"Ed actually has been talking to me for a year," Roush says. "I told him that I wanted a semester covering North Carolina companies to make sure the process worked before we expanded to Maryland."
Robotic writing
As for Wordsmith, Roush says he's interested in the concept so his students will be freed up to do more reporting and writing - perhaps interviews, features stories and more. Right now the primary focus is on news contained in securities filings.
"We worked with Wordsmith this semester, with the CEO Robbie Allen coming to talk to us. We have developed templates within Wordsmith for three types of stories – Form Ds, insider buying and selling, and WARN Act filings for layoffs. We hope to use those to report those stories faster next semester," Roush notes.
Feedback
The growing use of NCBNW copy comes with feedback sent Roush's way.
"Mostly positive," he says. "We have made a few mistakes, but that is to be expected. I have a friend, Gary Fly in Greensboro, who reads the email every day and uses it for intelligence on making investments. We’re trying to cover the news that the mainstream media is not covering, so the variety has been good. We can be more in-depth. I hope to do that next semester with the three students who are returning."
