Missouri Business Alert Celebrates 4th Anniversary with New Offerings, Readership Increases
The Publication Provides Professional Reporting Experience for Missouri Journalism Students
Columbia, Mo. (July 12, 2016) — Missouri Business Alert, a digital business news startup at the Missouri School of Journalism, celebrates its four-year anniversary this July. Students from the Missouri School of Journalism and University of Missouri Trulaske College of Business are engaged in all facets of its operation.
The publication’s ability to continually offer vital information to the state’s business and economic communities is one reason for success, said Missouri Business Alert’s founder Randall Smith, the first Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism.
“Business drives decision making, and we take seriously our role in providing the kind of real-time, accurate information that drives economies,” Smith said.
The most recent addition is “The Weekend Accelerator,” an e-newsletter providing stories, insights and analysis for entrepreneurs. This free newsletter joins Missouri Business Alert’s “Morning Minutes” and “The Week Ahead” newsletters. Plans are underway to host an event focused on women in entrepreneurship this fall.
Missouri Business Alert professional and student staff members have increased coverage of startups in and around the state, including the launch of two new on-site features, “Three Broke Mice” and “Elevator Pitches.” The new “Three Broke Mice” podcast, a collaborative project with Missouri School of Journalism newsroom KBIA-FM, is a show for and by millennials that explores money issues, economic topics and cultural phenomena. A new “Elevator Pitches” gallery profiles up-and-coming businesses from around the state.
“We combine class work and entrepreneurship in all of our activities,” Smith said. “We’re especially proud of when our students graduate as experienced business reporters, moving on to promising careers with top news organizations including The Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC and McClatchy.”
Missouri Business Alert has increased readership nearly 2,000 percent since its launch in 2013. In January 2016, the publication received a $100,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City to improve coverage of business and entrepreneurial news across the state and increase awareness of Missouri’s growing entrepreneurial community.
Interested readers can subscribe online for free to all of Missouri Business Alert’s e-newsletters.
Updated: September 29, 2020