The panel was composed of Peter Coy, the economics editor of BusinessWeek; Gregory Ip, a senior special writer at The Wall Street Journal; Steve Liesman, a senior economics reporter at CNBC; Eduardo Porter, an economics reporter for The New York Times; and Andrew Serwer, the senior editor-at-large at Fortune. Economics professor Andrew Samwick moderated the event.
After Samwick mistakenly introduced Coy as 'McCoy' and erred in describing Porter's title as senior special writer, the members of the panel appeared to enjoy involving Samwick in the discussion.
"You said before the less you speak the better, but I disagree," Coy said to Samwick. "Let's make this a conversation."
The discussion began with each panelist describing how he began his career as an economic journalist.
"The only thing I liked about business school was reading the Wall Street Journal on the steps, in the sun," Serwer said. Basesd on this, he decided to attend Columbia University's Graduate School for Journalism -- even after he graduated from Emory University's Graduate School of Business.
Serwer also described one of his proudest moments as a journalist: when he wrote about the Walton family, the nation's wealthiest family and the heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune. Initially they declined to cooperate with him, but his persistence ultimately led to their reluctant participation in the story.
In answer to Samwick's question about the unique experiences in reporting economics, the panel members all mentioned the difficulty of reaching non-economists with their coverage.
"One of the biggest challenges for me is writing about economics in a way people don't find intimidating," Ip said.
Liesman elaborated, saying, "Economics is a lot more than numbers. To me it's a way of thinking about the world. If at the end of the day you say, 'If you're going to cut taxes these are the effects,' and have society understand it, that's good enough."
The proliferation of bloggers, or "citizen journalists," spurred excited discussion on the panel.
"Ten years from now there will be a panel of bloggers up here, dressed in pajamas," Coy said, when asked what changes he anticipates for journalism in the next decade.
The event was co-sponsored by the Rockefeller Center and the Office of Public Affairs and took place in Filene Auditorium.
