Brauchli: Biz media did plenty of warning about economic crisis

Jos Strupp of Editor & Publisher writes Tuesday that Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli, previously the top editor at The Wall Street Journal, believes the business media provided ample warning to readers about the current economic upheaval.

Strupp writes, “‘There was a lot of coverage over many years about the underlying problems in the financial system and the economy,’ said Brauchli, who joined the Post just weeks ago after more than two decades at the Journal — including a year in the top editor’s post. ‘If you go back and look at the big American newspapers, you will see it, going back to 1996 when Alan Greenspan coined the phrase ‘irrational exuberance.”

“Brauchli’s comments come as several major financial institutions have either been taken over or filed for bankruptcy — along with Monday’s 777-point Dow Jones drop. Some observers have pointed to news outlets and asked if they properly covered the coming problems, while others wondered how much was predictable.

“‘There were good stories throughout, good stories about the risks,’ Brauchli added. ‘The truth is, there was always skeptical coverage by the major newspapers. The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, all have written about these issues. The scale of derivatives, the rapid growth of unregulated, over-the-counter securities, the risk in financial institutions.'”

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