Frankie Flack: Ben Bradlee, you ignorant slut
All the reporters in my Twitter feed are linking, during this sad week of Ben Bradlee’s death at the age of 93, to a Washington Post post titled “A classic Ben Bradlee letter to ‘flacks.’” Bradlee has been responsible for a lot of things we can call “classic.” This ain’t one of them. The brief […]
When Ben Bradlee hired a deputy business editor
Steven Pearlstein, a business columnist for the Washington Post, writes about how former executive editor Ben Bradlee, who died Tuesday at the age of 93, hired him in 1987 to become the paper’s deputy business editor. Pearlstein writes, “I remember it as if it were yesterday, being ushered into the great Ben Bradlee’s glass-walled office […]
Pearlstein’s takedown of TheStreet’s Feuerstein falls way short
Columbia Journalism Review‘s Ryan Chittum analyzes Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein‘s attack on TheStreet.com’s Adam Feuerstein for using short sellers as sources and concludes that it wasn’t warranted. Chittum writes, “There’s no doubt that Feuerstein is an aggressive, sometimes brash, reporter, with a deep knowledge of the biotech industry picked up over nearly 14 years […]
Frankie Flack: Why I don’t want my name in your biz story
Every once in a while, I fire up Factiva, my news-clipping database, and do a quick search for my name. Unlike everyone else who ego-searches the news, I’m not looking for a mention. I’m looking for a blank screen. I’m successful when I’m invisible. It’s not my job to be quoted. I’m an agency flack. […]
LA Times biz columnist defends TheStreet reporter
Los Angeles Times business columnist Michael Hiltzik comes to the defense Tuesday of TheStreet.com reporter Adam Feuerstein, who was accused during the weekend by Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein of colluding with short sellers to bring down a biotech stock. Hiltzik writes, “Pearlstein also states that the posts ‘curiously have also coincided with the […]
TheStreet.com reporter accused of colluding with shorts
Steven Pearlstein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning business columnist for The Washington Post, writes about TheStreet.com biotech reporter Adam Feuerstein and what he believes is overly negative coverage about a biotech company. Pearlstein writes, “Or consider Feuerstein’s posts in May and June concerning a presentation by Northwest Bio’s chief executive, Linda Powers, at the big annual cancer […]
Did financial journalists spot the economic crisis?
The Economist examines whether business journalists wrote enough about the issues leading up to the economic crisis, contemplating a new book of essays that asks whether financial journalists were to blame for abetting, or not spotting, the financial crisis of 2007-08. The Economist writes, “A related problem is that of asymmetry of information. When writing […]
Frankie Flack: Hey journalists, you blur the lines too
Man, I feel for the guys to Status Labs, the PR firm that got outed earlier this month for trying to buy their way onto CNBC. Now, I’m not going to defend the practice of buying coverage. That’s not PR, and the news consumer gets screwed over pretty badly when she can’t tell whether her […]
Frankie Flack: Yelling, PR pitches and business journalism
OK, sports fans. Confession time. I’ve been known to send pitches over email that are beyond the pale. I’ve sent stuff to reporters who I know would never consider the news in a million years. I’ve called reporters to garner their thought on my story idea even when I know damn well what they think. […]
Katie Benner joins Bloomberg View
Bloomberg View announced Monday that Katie Benner will join the opinion and analysis site in September as a columnist covering technology, innovation and the cult and culture of Silicon Valley. “Katie is a deeply resourceful writer with singular observations about all facets of the tech business,” said David Shipley, the senior executive editor of Bloomberg […]
