Snark prevalent in business journalism on TV

Doug Kass of TheStreet.com writes about why many of those who appear on business journalism television shows talk snark instead of facts.

Kass writes, “The fact is that snark (a combination of snide and remark) and opinion far too often envelop the business media instead of facts and figures. Equally infuriating is the confidence of view in the delivery of the snark. Sometimes the reason for this is out of necessity, as the media appearances are typically brief and expected to be on point. Nevertheless, in a world characterized by an absence of certainty and an interrelated and a complicated market mosaic (and complexity of issues) without memory from day to day, too many attach self-confident reasons to randomness.

“I would characterize a lot of the pabulum in the business media as instantaneous entertainment and not as rigorous analysis.

“Of course, there are exceptions. Consider as an example, the preparation that Jim “El Capitan” Cramer goes through when he interviews a corporate executive on “Mad Money.” Another example is CNBC’s “Squawk Box” with Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Sorkin, which provides a guest host with one to three hours to do a deeper dive in analysis (e.g., just watch Jim Grant’s appearance yesterday, which was solid and thoughtful in analysis). Or Bloomberg’s “Market Surveillance” in which Tom Keene shares the spotlight with an interviewee for almost a half an hour, digging into the analysis that forms the foundation of view.”

Read more here.