5 top tips for reading company reports
When covering business and finance, it’s best to learn how to read company reports for your investigations. In this week’s blog, we sum up some top business reporting tips from Global Investigative Journalism Network’s latest video with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston.
1. Always report a company’s pre-tax profit - Do not report the after-tax profit.
2. Ignore company press releases about finances - When companies report their finances, look at what they officially gave to the shareholders and government. This is using Generally Accepting Accounting Principles (GAAP).
3. Remember, the directors are responsible for the company - The duty is not to the shareholders, their duty is to the enterprise and the company.
4. Check end pages of a company’s Annual Reports - One of the best places to find great business stories is the “index to exhibits” on the 10K form.
5. Always look at the consolidated financial statement - Look at the footnotes and supplements to the cash flow statement and deferred taxes.
Interested to learn more? Watch the full GIJN video with David Cay Johnston.
Related courses
90 mins
School of Data90 mins
School of Data
Rory Peck Trust
50 mins
Rory Peck Trust
Blogs
6 useful resources for journalists covering Covid-19
With a global pandemic spreading throughout the world, journalists are under increasing pressure to report accurate and relevant news for the masses. Often when covering a crisis, those on the reporting frontlines compromise their physical safety and mental health. To show some solidarity, the Advocacy Assembly team curated a list of useful resources from other organisations leading the way on this.
5 ways to find data for your next story
Data journalism is fast becoming a big trend in newsrooms across the globe. However, data isn’t always so easy to find. Here are five ways to get data for your next article.
