Yes, the jury is still out on my skills as a businessman. I have only been working as country manager for Ringier, a Swiss publishing house, in Vietnam since July 2009. But after six months, I can’t tell you how often I refer back to core journalism techniques (in an attempt) to be a better businessperson. Could it be that going to journalism school made me a better businessperson? My case:

• Pitching (1): If you can’t summarize your business plan or reason to cooperate/partner in one short sentence, then you might as well put your money into a pile on the floor and burn it. The plan, the people, the time line… The end of your “story” had better be crystal clear before you get started.
• Pitching (2): If you’re not passionate about your plan to make money, then why should I be passionate? You’re selling ideas; and instead of editors, you’re convincing investors, partners, staff, etc. Put on your sales hat and be sure to use words that will sell an “editor” like ‘amazing’, ‘limited time’ and ‘exclusive.’
• Don’t bury the nut. If you haven’t got on slide 2, after your fancy .pptx or Keynote intro slide, the reason WHY we are sitting in this room during our busy schedules, then you’ve already wasted everyone’s time. Chances are, if you have more than 10 slides, you’re in trouble. Same goes for a press release. Don’t make me think and show me why I should pay attention right away.
• Show don’t tell. Okay, you’re passionate. You’re convincing. I like you. But I’m running a business. My staff or I won’t eat if I make a bad decision here. Show me in a clear cut business plan how we’re going to make money. Let me see the numbers, the reasoning and/or the evidence that backs up what you’re so convincingly pitching me.
• There is nothing different from a “beat note” and “market research report.” Who are you talking to about this business plan? How diverse is your source list? How do you know that the people you are talking to know what they are talking about? When things change, how do you know about them first? Is your beat note up-to-date?
• Verify your sources. In business, there is a lot of pressure to minimize weakness and maximize advantage(s). Often what is “told” is very different from what is “real.” It’s your job – your bottom line – to check the difference. The easiest way to do this is to talk to people/businesses around this person/business. Same thing in journalism. He said X. Ask Y and Z if true.
• Fact check everything. Again. .5 and .05 are very different numbers. Does the labor contract with the new sales director say, “gross” or “net” under salary? BIG difference.
• What’s new? What’s news? To state the obvious: if someone is already doing it or it’s already been done, then it’s less likely you’ll be successful or noticed if you do it too. If it’s not news, then it’s not worth pitching. Readers want news, not the obvious or apparent. Same for business. Got a new idea to convert a blanket into a jacket, call it a Snuggie and make bank. Shave a decimal place off a kilowatt, call up the CEO or your congressman. If you’re not solving problems or giving kinetic value to an end user, then don’t bother. You’re wasting time. And time is money. Right freelancer?
• Do more with less. A reasonably intelligent and motivated individual can perform multiple tasks at the same time. Got a hot music single from a sexy musician? Don’t sell the album. Sell the single, the album, the merchandise, the branding, the concert ticket, the soundtrack rights, etc. Got a story? No, you have a Twitter newsflash, a Web crawl headline, an above-the-fold photo, a breaking blog article, a newspaper article, a video clip, 24-hour pundit babble, a syndicate wire story, a magazine feature, PR for your news org and a lot more. The person that broke the story… Give them credit. Give them training. They should be able to do everything. Maximize their value. Maximize the story. Take a service or product and split it up and sell it more. Keep costs down by empowering/training fewer people to do more.

Maybe the great irony of the media is dying, is that in the year when business went bad, old-school journalism techniques could save it. I don’t know. Jury is still out.

I had this fancy new manifesto prepared to display here only a few short hours ago. But despite my best intention, today’s Critical Issues in Journalism lecture and its subsequent discussion ruined what surely would have resulted in a new dawn of journalism ethics. Instead, you’ll have to settle for another set of flawed (but hopefully somewhat more of a realistic application of) ethics in investigative reporting.

My basic rules to follow as a reporter:

1. The central premise remains unaltered for me: A journalist’s obligation is to the truth first and foremost. As Professor Duy says, “What is your intent?” If it’s obscures the truth, then prepare for consequences.
2. Yes, it’s cheesy and Google-esque, but a journalist should strive to leave this place a better world than when they first found it.
3. Reporters should begin their investigation using the strictest moral standards available i.e. don’t lie or conceal that you’re a reporter to hopefully glean information from a reluctant source. If you can do it, without lying, you should. Aim VERY high at first, as it’s a long and slippery slope afterwards.
4. A reporter should not be deterred from adopting more aggressive tactics, as long as the reporter’s intent is to report as accurately as possible what they believe is a verifiable truth. I say verifiable using a scientific connotation. A well-reported story, in my meager opinion, is one whose outcome can be reproduced under similar circumstances.
5. I find sympathy for my opinion from the Heisenberg Principle as it relates to journalism. If you reveal yourself to be a journalist to a source, then you have most likely altered what (and how) that source will reveal to you. My brittle yardstick to handle this dilemma is: If you believe that be revealing yourself to be a journalist you will greatly distort what the source will say to you than had you not, then it is permissible to not reveal that you are a journalist – you may engage in subterfuge. Why would the fact that I am a reporter alter your response to my question? Another way to put this is: You’re first goal is to report the truth. If revealing your identity as a journalist prevents you from reporting the truth, you may consider not revealing your motivations behind the reporting.
6. The free market will reward those who abuse investigative journalism in pursuit of an agenda other than that of reporting a verifiable truth. If your reporting sucks or violates rule number two, then we won’t trust you. Readers, advertisers and publishers should reward brands that follow these rules as best as possible.
7. The process of your work shouldn’t result in causing yourself or anyone else physical harm or death. (If however, your death or detriment is less than the good you’ll cause by reporting your work, then you may consider moving ahead. This one is up to you. But please keep in mind those others affected by your dangerous work and that your best stories may be ahead of you, not behind.
8. Don’t knowingly report work that would directly result in harming others i.e. X of guerrillas/troops will be here at Y time. I’m sort of old fashioned, when it comes to this one.
9. This one is just pure frustration and perhaps even laziness, it’s okay to use someone’s original work if you properly credit it.

What are your rules?