Business is the activity of making a profit by producing or buying and selling goods or services. A business can be large or small, with employees or without. It can be public or private, non-profit or for-profit. It can be an incorporated entity or sole proprietorship, and it can be domestic or international. Business news encompasses information about the economy, commerce, finance, investments, trade and industry. It can also include news about businesses, including their strategies, structures, ownership and management.
Business news can be published in newspapers, magazines, journals, books and broadcasts. It is most often reported by journalists who specialize in these topics. It can cover a variety of topics, from the stock market to global economic trends. It can also cover business ethics, corporate governance and the impact of new technologies on the workplace.
Financial news is important for anyone who has money to invest, or is considering becoming an investor. It can have a positive, negative or neutral effect on investing and trading outcomes. In the broader business world, financial news is an essential source of overall sentiment about companies, leaders, politicians and policies.
The earliest business news articles date back to 1700, when novelist Daniel Defoe began publishing his work about the business of running a plantation. Later, muckraking journalist Ida Tarbell pioneered investigative journalism and contributed to the rise of business news. Today, the practice is widespread, with thousands of professional journalists covering companies and the economy for a range of business news publications.
This guide to business news and resources was compiled by experts in Business Reference Services at the Library of Congress. It is intended to help researchers locate general and specialized business news sources in print and microform, both at the Library and online. This guide does not include scholarly journals or academic theses, which are best located using the Library’s citation database, WorldCat. For additional assistance, please see the Research Tools and Tutorials page in this guide, or contact Ask-a-Librarian.
Andy Garcia has been the director of SEO and editorial at Centerfield since 2020, working to scale the company through organic search strategy. He has a decade of experience building online businesses and consulting on small business marketing. Before joining the team, he founded an organic search strategy agency and seed-series invested in technology-focused startups. He is a former entrepreneur and small business owner who has taught himself coding and AI through personal experimentation. He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.