July 2001

Enthusiastic Students and Journalists Gain Financial Insight at NYSSCPA Seminars

Over the last two months, the New York State Society of CPAs provided students and journalists with an excellent opportunity to learn more about the financial market by cohosting two financial media seminars.

The first of those seminars was held on May 24 for student journalist interns attending New York University’s (NYU) one-week summer program, where they learned about covering business and financial news.

Part of the NYU program, the Society’s seminar focused on interpretation of financial statements. Philip Wolitzer, a professor at Long Island University and member of the Public Relations Committee, led the seminar that was coordinated with The Wall Street Journal.

“The students were an eager bunch and they wanted to observe more and more,” Wolitzer said. “Their questions were plentiful.”

Students from the University of Nebraska, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Alabama, the University of Colorado, the University of Virginia, Indiana University, Louisiana Tech University, and Howard University attended the event. This summer they will work as business news reporters at newspapers around the country including the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester), Newsday (Long Island), Huntsville Times (Alabama), Denver Post (Colorado), Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), Star Tribune (Minnesota), Houston Chronicle (Texas), and York Daily Record (Pennsylvania).

Wolitzer also took part in a June 14 seminar for journalists that also concentrated on financial statement interpretation and was co-hosted with the New York Financial Writers Group.

Following a wine and cheese reception, Wolitzer and Marc Albaum, a sole practitioner, presented their joint lecture to the attentive crowd.

“The financial media seminar was a rewarding and exciting event,” said Alan Kahn, president of the AJK Financial Group and chair of the Public Relations Committee. “We had 30 financial writers from various media sources who expressed tremendous appreciation for the Society’s sponsorship of this program. The writers also indicated that their quest for much needed financial information would be satisfied by additional financial seminars in the future.”

Albaum affirmed Kahn’s assessment, adding, “All the participants seemed eager to learn, and they asked many questions. They left with the sense that they wanted to learn more.”

Reporters from Dow Jones Newswire made up the bulk of the attending journalists, while others present included freelancers as well as members of the Associated Press, CNN, Newsday, Treasury & Risk Management, Bloomberg, CFO.com, and Investor Relations Magazine.