Business journalism, confirmation bias and the stock market
“What happened?!” That question is going around a lot these days, given recent market volatility. And there are already a lot of analyst notes, on-air debates, and public speeches attempting to connect dots between the market ups and downs and ongoing developments in China, Europe, the oil patch and tech sector. It’s a time for […]
Frankie Flack: I’ll wait for stock market frenzy to subside
This won’t shock you guys, but I have no idea where the stock market is going to go. And I know that you guys don’t know, either. In fact, one of the nice things about a long career on the edge of the business world is that I’m confident that no one has any idea what’s […]
The problem with CNBC and its markets coverage
Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times writes about why business news network CNBC is not good for people to watch during wild fluctuations of the stock market. Hiltzik writes, “One can’t exactly blame CNBC for hyping stock market moves. The channel has to fill 13 hours a day with live market advice. It can’t possibly hold […]
Business journalism and the nut graph
There is probably nothing more squandered in business journalism than the nut graph. And as what is arguably the most important money event of the year is about to hit, the business press as a whole is likely to do it again. The nut graph: That’s the paragraph where you tell people why the story […]
An over-reliance on events is bad for business journalism
PandoDaily founder Sarah Lacy writes that media operations that rely too much on events to bring in revenue are hurting themselves. Lacy writes, “An over-reliance on the events business is hollowing out American Journalism — maybe at a faster rate than even sponsored content has managed to. In the process, it’s killing what was a […]
Style drift in business journalism
Seen any style drift lately? Yes you have. And you’re likely to see more. Style drift? It’s the term that applies when a business news service covers a story that isn’t really business news. Remember that white dress/blue dress debate? All the biz majors – text, digital, and TV — were on top of that […]
The business news cycles that keep a media mogul awake
If you’re a news mogul, you need to keep an eye on turf fights, especially among your platforms. Why? Well, TV producers want people watching TV all the time. Web folks want people clicking all the time. Radio and podcasters want people listening all the time. So the platforms compete. It’s noticeable in news media […]
The problem with small business news coverage
“Hi, I’m a small business owner.” Does anybody introduce themselves like that at a party? Airport bar? School picnic? No. It’s “I’m in shoes” or “I’m a restauranteur” or “I do software consulting.”* Yet business news outfits insist on covering small businesses as, well, “small business.” And, in large part, they fail; no huge audience […]
WSJ seeks personal finance columnist in New York
The Wall Street Journal is seeking a columnist to cover personal finance from New York. The successful candidate will be the leading voice on personal finance matters in print and online, have a deep knowledge of personal finance, an eye for spotting news and a proven ability in writing insightful and engaging columns that would […]
The issues with covering Trump and his net worth
Timothy O’Brien of Bloomberg View, who wrote a book about Donald Trump, writes about the difficulties in covering the net worth of the Republican presidential candidate’s net worth, which Trump pegged at $10 billion. O’Brien writes, “But Donald had no idea how hard it was to get this right! On a single day in August […]
