Why “ticker packing” is a danger to business journalism

Have you bumped into any “ticker packing” lately? Probably not, thankfully. But we might start seeing it more in the hot new sales sector: Video. (Deep sigh). “Ticker packing” is the practice of jamming as many stock symbols as you can into a story. Why do that? Well, stock symbols are what the major portals […]

Bloomberg, Micklethwait ready new commentary and analysis service

Joe Pompeo of Capital New York profiles new Bloomberg editor in chief John Micklethwait and reports that Bloomberg is getting ready introduce a new platform for commentary and analysis that is expected to be endowed with substantial resources and manpower. Pompeo reports, “Sources familiar with the project likened it to The Financial Times‘ Lex column, […]

WSJ publishes Gingrich op-ed without disclosing he works for opponent

The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Newt Gingrich attacking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and promoting the U.S. Consumer Coalition without disclosing that the anti-CFPB group employs him as a paid adviser, reports Eric Hananoki of Media Matters for America. Hananoki writes, “The coalition celebrated the placement of the op-ed on its website and stated that […]

Tongue in cheek: Business journalists are overpaid

Christopher Carosa writes a response to an article written by Jason Zweig of The Wall Street Journal titled, “Why You’re Paying Too Much in Advisory Fees.” Carosa writes, “The typical financial writer charges absurdly high fees to produce editorial content — content that is often mediocre in terms of practical real-world application. “According to a […]

Frankie Flack: In defense of flackery

There is this guy, Dave, who plays on my softball team. He thinks I have the world’s worst job because I have to interact with the media. “Hate those guys,” he tells me. “Useless, all of them. No faith in those guys at all.” Every time he starts railing on the media, I have to […]

Reuters Breakingviews seeks China columnist

Reuters Breakingviews is seeking a columnist to write about China. Reponsibilities Ability to write strong, original views on Chinese business, finance and economics – both responding rapidly to breaking news and setting the agenda. Developing contacts with senior executives, policymakers and analysts. Working closely with other Breakingviews columnists in Asia and the rest of the […]

Reuters Breakingviews seeks columnist

The world’s leading provider of real-time financial commentary is seeking a New York-based columnist who can think creatively about markets, banks and deals. It’s an opportunity to tackle some of the biggest stories and subjects in global finance. The ideal candidate comes with a skeptic’s eye, a writer’s touch and a zeal for starting conversations […]

Why it’s hard to be a financial news wire CEO

In the wake of the resignation of Reuters CEO Andrew Rashbass, Felix Salmon of Fusion writes about the difficulties faced by news wire executives. Salmon writes, “The result is that the media CEO is, almost by definition, marginal. At Bloomberg, where there’s lots of money, the CEO’s job is to intelligently spend money at the […]

Why business pubs should disclose their finances

Celeste LeCompte, a 2014-15 Nieman Fellow, argues that publications — particularly those that cover business — should disclose their finances to the editorial staff. LeCompte writes, “That winter, our president and publisher, Nik Blosser, adopted open-book accounting. “‘We publish a business magazine,’ I remember him telling me then, ‘and business journalists should get used to […]

CNBC.com seeks content editor for commentary section

CNBC Digital, a division of NBC Universal, is seeking a content editor to work on the new commentary section of business-news site CNBC.com. Looking for a highly motivate individual with 5+ years experience in news. Strong writing, editing, reporting and organizational skills are required. Multimedia and data-visualization skills preferred. The job involves working closely with […]