WTW readers have no doubt noticed in the past few weeks a growing number of good stories (nearly 20) from the North Carolina Business News Wire staff. And what an appropriate weekend to say “thank you” – again – on behalf of WRAL TechWire while also introducing readers to a fine team of promising journalists at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The Skinny wrote about adding NC Biz News Wire content earlier this month. And I want to reiterate again my praise for the efforts of veteran business journalist Chris Roush, who is the Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill and the creator/editor behind the news service.

This group of students is helping WTW get the news out about all things tech and life science in North Carolina – from startups to public companies – to WTW’s growing global audience. WRAL TechWire’s mission doesn’t include some of the stories Roush and company produce, but hopefully other media outlets will smarten up and see the worth and quality of what NCBNW is contributing.

Thanks to their collective efforts, WTW is not only providing coverage it lacks the resources to produce in the past, but also gives us more time to focus on other stories or to augment the news NCBNW provides.

Topics for news

What Roush and company are covering:

  • 8-K materially important events happening in public North Carolina companies, including mergers and acquisitions, board member resignations and executive changes;
  • Insider buying and selling;
  • Quarterly earnings;
  • Companies filing to sell additional shares;
  • Executive compensation;
  • Buying and selling of stock by major shareholders;
  • Regional economic data such as unemployment;
  • Money raised by private companies;
  • Patent and trademark applications.

Feet on the street

What follows are brief bios of the fall semester team, including Twitter feeds.

  • Joe Baglio is a senior business journalism major from Andover, Massachusetts. He has interned with Deloitte, run a full service dog service called Puppy Pals, and is the president of the Carolina Hockey team at UNC. Follow him on Twitter: @Joe_Bags19
  • Elizabeth Fleischer is a senior business journalism major from Charlotte. She has interned with Grant Thornton and the Charlotte Observer and served on the board of directors of The Daily Tar Heel. Follow her on Twitter: @elizfleischer
  • Elizabeth Harvell is a senior business journalism major from North Carolina. She has interned for The Street.com in New York and has worked at The Daily Tar Heel. She is also editor of The Future of Energy, a site by UNC students interested in how activists, utilities and businesses are reshaping the future of energy. Follow her on Twitter:@Liz_Harvell
  • Natalie Hoberman is a senior business journalism and political science major from Miami, Florida. She has worked for The Daily Tar Heel and Resound Magazine, and has previously interned with Unilever in Buenos Aires and G&S Business Communications in New York. Follow her on Twitter: @hobermannatalie
  • Lauren Thomas is a senior business journalism major from Spartanburg, South Carolina. She has interned for TheStreet.com in New York, Bloomberg News in New York and CNBC.com in San Francisco. Follow her on Twitter: @laurenthomasx3
  • Evanne Timberlake is a senior business journalism major from Winston-Salem.  She has also studied Hispanic literature and interned for French West Vaughan in Raleigh and for StartupGrind of the Triangle. Follow her on Twitter: @e_Timbs
  • Justina Vasquez is a senior business journalism major from Fayetteville. She has worked for The Daily Tar Heel and the Reese News Lab at UNC, and interned on the business desk at NPR. Follow her on Twitter: @helloimjustina
  • Hailey Waller is a senior business journalism major from Manhattan Beach, California. She spent her sophomore year studying at Sciences Po in France, so she is fluent in French. She has interned with the Los Angeles Clippers. Follow her on Twitter:@hjwaller
  • Wei Zhou is a senior business journalism from Zhengzhou, China. She has interned with The Wall Street Journal in Shanghai and worked at The Daily Tar Heel as a senior writer. Follow her on Twitter: @WeiZhouUNC

Read more about the UNC effort at: http://ncbiznews.web.unc.edu/

More writers, content coming

WRAL TechWire continues to add new sources and writers for content. Look for an announcement of an additional blogger on startups coming next week.