J298: Unmasking Power: Companies, the Economy and Markets (Business Journalism)

Where there’s money there’s power. Corporations dominate our country, and Silicon Valley dominates the corporate world.  This intermediate business reporting course focuses on the tech industry and provides the tools to understand and cover business. With that foundation, learn how to hold the powerful accountable. See how companies influence and are influenced by the economy and the role markets play in the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Through in-class assignments, the course will demystify corporate earnings, stocks, bonds and economic indicators and show how they affect each other. Guests from Berkeley’s Haas Business School will give insights on the numbers to focus on and which to ignore. Visiting journalists will tell how they used this knowledge to break stories on Facebook, Google, Apple, Tesla and AI as well as other fields.  Business drives so much of our daily lives, whether it be sports, politics, nonprofits, arts, style, entertainment, media or technology. So knowing business reporting unlocks a world of coverage.

This will be a continuation of the business reporting certificate program. Open to anyone, but we encourage any students who have taken business reporting in Spring 2024 to take this course. Once the certificate is approved, this course will count toward earning that credential.