NYT tech columnist's many conflicts
Clark Hoyt, the public editor of the New York Times, writes Sunday about how the paper is handling the conflicts of interest around tech columnist David Pogue. Hoyt writes, “No Times journalist is in quite the same position as Pogue — reviewing products and simultaneously writing guides to them. He said he makes more money […]
WSJ to keep PR CEO as columnist
Hamilton Nolan of Gawker reports that The Wall Street Journal has decided it will keep Mark Penn, the CEO of PR firm Burson-Marsteller, as a columnist despite the disclosure this week that he was recruiting companies mentioned in his columns after they ran. Nolan writes, “Today, WSJ spokesman Robert Christie explained the results of the […]
WSJ columnist uses writing to drum up business for his PR firm
Hamilton Nolan of Gawker reports Wednesday that Wall Street Journal columnist Mark Penn, who writes the paper’s “Microtrend” column and is also the CEO of PR firm Burson-Marsteller, is trying to recruit clients mentioned in the column. Nolan obtained an internal memo from the PR firm as evidence. He writes, “Here we have a Wall […]
Why does BW staff favor Wasserstein?
Former BusinessWeek staffer Gary Weiss writes Saturday that if the magazine is purchased by Bruce Wasserstein, as favored by the staff members, it poses some interesting conflict issues. Weiss writes, “I’m surprised for two reasons. The first is that one of the active bidders is Joe Mansueto. He has an association with BW dating back […]
Fight continues between Hartford paper, ex-consumer columnist
The Hartford Courant ran a short story on Wednesday regarding consumer complaints and an investigation of a mattress retailer — the subject of which led to the resignation of its consumer columnist earlier this month. The short story can be read here. The former consumer columnist, George Gombossy, writes on his site that the story […]
Drug company sues Pittsburgh paper, two business journalists
Mylan Inc. announced Wednesday that it has filed a lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and two of its business desk staffers, Len Boselovic and Patricia Sabatini, seeking the return of confidential documents. A release states, “The lawsuit was filed after the newspaper published a series of sensational and misleading articles based on improperly obtained and […]
Ousted Hartford Courant consumer advocate addresses issues
George Gombossy, the former business editor of the Hartford Courant who was the paper’s consumer advocate for the last three years before being fired for writing a column about a major advertiser, has a letter on the Hartford Advocate’s Web site addressing some of what happened. Gombossy writes, “The Watchdog was not really the George […]
Judge: Former WSJ editor can pursue race bias case
A former Wall Street Journal editor may pursue a racial discrimination case against her one-time employer, after alleging that she was fired because she is black, a federal judge has ruled, reports Jonathan Stempel of Reuters. Stempel writes, “Judge Deborah Batts of the federal district court in Manhattan said a juror could conclude that the […]
Courant in dispute with former consumer columnist
Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times writes that The Hartford Courant is disputing the allegations by former consumer columnist George Gombossy over his departure from the paper. Gombossy, the paper’s business editor for 12 years, alleges that the paper wouldn’t run one of his columns because it was about a major advertiser. Clifford writes, “Mr. […]
Reuters blogger takes issue with professor defense of Stein
Felix Salmon of Reuters argues that Washington & Lee ethics professor Ed Wasserman’s defense of former New York Times Sunday business columnist Ben Stein is weak and ignores some basic facts. Salmon writes, “Wasserman read four columns by Ben Stein, and on the strength of those four columns concluded that Stein didn’t offer financial advice […]
