WSJ named most influential biz news outlet; Sorkin named most influential biz journalist

The Wall Street Journal remains the most-influential financial news organization in the country, according to survey results released Thursday.

The Journal was nominated as the most influential financial news organization by 83 percent of the nearly 500 financial journalists who responded to the survey in November and December. Bloomberg News was second with 58 percent,m while the New York  Times was third with 31 percent. The Financial Times moved up to fourth, while Reuters moved down a spot to fifth.

The survey, done by DePaul University professors Matt Ragas and Hai Tran, was released Thursday by Gorkana. It also found that financial journalists are slightly less positive on the health of business journalism they they were two years ago.

“The small uptick in negative opinion could be due in part to layoffs over the past year by major business news organizations like Bloomberg News, Thomson Reuters and Dow Jones,” the study noted. “While the outlook for financial journalism remains stronger than in many other areas of journalism, these reductions do not help instill confidence.”

Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times and CNBC was named the most influential business journalist for the second time in a row. However, coming in second, was Jon Hilsenrath of The Wall Street Journal. Hilsenrath was not listed among the most influential when the survey was last done two years ago.

When relying on sources, business journalists said academic experts are the most credible, followed by a company CEO and then a technical expert in the company.

The survey can be found here.