New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley came to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Oct. 1 to pressure his colleagues at the Fed to act aggressively to revive the economic recovery, and students from the School’s business concentration were there to report the news.

Dudley was the keynote speaker at the fall conference of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) held at the J-School and only one of many top executives, analysts, and journalists who came to assess the state of Wall Street, the media’s coverage of financial issues, the consumer travel sector, the state of local and state finances, and the Obama health plan.

The business students covered it all at a web site, CUNYatSABEW, originally created last spring when a team traveled to SABEW’s spring conference. The work they did provided real-life experience on covering news under intense deadline pressure since most of the posts were completed within a few hours. They were edited by adjunct Stacy-Marie Ishmael, an editor at the Financial Times.

Students manned the registration desk and did other duties in return for a contribution from SABEW to the J-School’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. SABEW also hired third-semester student Hannah Rappleye to shoot photos.

The conference was part of an effort by the business concentration to expose students to the issues they learn about in their classes and to offer networking opportunities with other business journalists, editors who might want to hire them, and business executives they may wind up covering. Such events are a key part of the concentration.

Some 150 journalists and business people attended the two-day event. SABEW is making plans to return to the J-School next fall for its 2011 conference.

Tags: business reporting, conferences, Events, Hannah Rappleye, SABEW, William Dudley