Examining Bloomberg's role in the United Airlines bankruptcy snafu
Ryan Chittum of the Columbia Journalism Review takes a look at the role Bloomberg News and its terminal played in distributing the false story two weeks ago that United Airlines was in bankruptcy court protection and how it moved to correct the bad information. Chittum writes, “It’s a bit silly, though, to blame Bloomberg because […]
Where was the biz media in uncovering Wall Street's problems?
Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel watched on Sunday CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” which discussed the media’s coverage of the Wall Street crisis. Boedeker writes, “The Wall Street crisis hasn’t just shaken the country; it has revealed that a lot of our press coverage is bankrupt, too. “What has happened? A cogent explanation came on CNN’s […]
Virginian-Pilot downplays news about itself compared to other papers
Joyce Hoffman, the public editor of the Virginian-Pilot, writes Sunday that the paper downplayed the story about it raising prices when other papers such as the New York Times have run such stories on the front page. Hoffman writes, “The timing of the article — six days after the new subscription rates took effect and […]
Biz journalists toning down words
RIchard Perez-Pena of the New York Times writes how many business journalists are toning down the words they use when describing the market in the wake of last week’s Wall Street upheaval. Perez-Pena writes, “So in most of the news, stocks have ‘slid’ and markets ‘gyrated’ but not ‘crashed.’ Companies have ‘tottered’ and ‘struggled’ rather […]
NYTimes retracts Morgan quote
Paul Tharp of the New York Post writes Friday that a quote used in a New York Times story about Morgan Stanley has now been retracted. Tharp writes, “The editors of The Times ran an embarrassing note yesterday discrediting one of its most attention-getting stories about the Wall Street crisis: that troubled Morgan Stanley wanted a […]
Roanoke editor says biz reporter wasn't reassigned due to complaints
Michael Stowe, the managing editor of the Roanoke Times, wrote a memo to the paper’s staff to disclose that business reporter Jeff Sturgeon was not taken off the health care beat because of complaints by a large health care provider in the area. Sturgeon’s switching to a new beat has been the topic of discussion […]
SEC looking into United Airlines story
Kara Scannell of The Wall Street Journal reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a preliminary investigation into how a six-year-old story on United Airlines resurfaced on the Internet, causing is stock to drop. Scannell writes, “‘Anytime anyone spreads false information over radio, TV, Internet message boards or chat rooms, about a public […]
Business editor shown the door after complaining about content
Robert Dixon, the editor of the Business Press, a publication of the Riverside Press-Enterprise in California, complained about the editorial content in his publication and was subsequently shown the door by his publisher, according to e-mails sent by Dixon and posted on the Romenesko site. In one of the e-mails, Dixon wrote, “I am deeply […]
Tribune Co. now blames Google for problems with United Air story
The Tribune Co. said Wednesday that the confusion surrounding a 2002 Chicago Tribune article on the Internet this past weekend started with the inability of Google’s automated search agent “Googlebot” to differentiate between breaking news and frequently viewed stories on the websites of its newspapers. Those problems caused a six-year-old story about United Airlines being […]
Tribune, Google now agree on how United Airlines story appeared
Steve Myers, the online news editor at the Poynter Institute, writes Tuesday that the Tribune Co. and Google now agree on how a six-year-old story about United Airlines being in bankruptcy court made it onto one of the newspaper company’s Web sites — and caused the airline’s stock to plummet. Myers writes, “Google spokesman Gabriel […]
