Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56539
And Now— Our Top Story by Peter Rooney I recently spoke with Mark Maremont, a financial reporter with The Wall Street Journal who has learned to pay atten- tion to academic research. While most research that crosses his desk doesn't pertain to his beat, he knows a good busi- ness study sometimes can lead to a major story. Such was the case a couple of years ago when he came across a paper by Erik Lie, associate finance professor at the University of Iowa's Tippie Col- lege of Business in Iowa City, and Randall Heron, associate finance professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business in Bloomington. Lie and Heron posited that senior executives at many companies were backdating options to maximize their compensation. After read- ing the study, Maremont and three of his colleagues—Charles Forelle, James Bandler, and Steve Stecklow—followed the story to its conclusion. As a result of their journalism, more than 140 companies were investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, more than 70 top execu- tives quit or were fired, and ten executives faced criminal charges. Not only that: In 2007, all four reporters won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the story. 46 When business research appears in the mainstream media, it can boost a school's reputation, expand its reach, and expose its faculty to new career- building opportunities. But to get into print, a school first must grab a reporter's attention with stories that hit the right nerve. BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2009