Business journalists aren't supposed to be cheerleaders
Atlanta Journal-Constitution public editor Angela Tuck writes, in the wake of this week’s resignation by Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli, that the paper’s coverage has been criticized for being “anti-business,” including in some of its Home Depot stories. Tuck stated, “In October 2005, AJC reporter Matt Kempner and columnist Maria Saporta analyzed the company’s charitable […]
How much was former Home Depot CEO really paid?
That’s the question that Dominic Jones wants answered, and he noted on his IR Web Report blog that he can’t get a straight answer from the business journalists who covered the ouster of Bob Nardelli from the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer. Jones wrote, “No one seems to know for sure, in part because the figures […]
Steiger addresses Chinese wall with advertising after story
Wall Street Journal managing editor Paul Steiger has had to address concerns among the journalists at the paper after the Journal ran a story earlier this month about jet ownership that mentioned a number of the paper’s advertisers, Women’s Wear Daily reported. Irin Carmon wrote, “The Wall Street Journal is clearly still learning the potential […]
Company CEO challenges quote
The president and CEO of Oreck Manufacturing is challenging a quote attributed to him in a story in the Tennessean, the daily newspaper in Nashville, that was later reprinted in the Sun Herald newspaper in Mississippi. J.R. Welsh, a reporter for the Sun Herald, wrote, “The letter, originally sent to Sun Herald executives, was distributed […]
Late Friday filings with the SEC
Dominic Jones, writing on the IRWebReport.com web site, waxes about how the SEC fell into the same trap with business journalists that many companies it’s supposed to regulate have done — make a major announcement on a late Friday. The SEC decided to announce on the Friday before Christmas that it was going to allow […]
How one company duped financial journalists with tricky PR
Clary Shirky, writing on the Corante web site, reports how a company called Linden Lab has been able to convince a bunch of well-respected financial reporters to write positively about the company simply by changing the language in its press releases. Shirky wrote, “If you want to understand how Linden has managed to disable the […]
NY Times' biz journalist must disclose sources in Trump case
Timothy O’Brien, the New York Times business journalist who wrote a book last year about real estate developer Donald Trump, must reveal his sources who told him that Trump was just a millionaire, not a billionaire, according to a judge’s ruling, the Philadephia Inquirer reported. O’Brien became the Sunday business editor for the Times in […]
Fake press release issued
Bloomberg reported that a fake press release was issued for an Atlanta-based company. Business journalists should care about such issues because they often rely on press releases as the basis for stories. James Gunsales wrote, “PR Newswire said it distributed a false news release this morning about Innotrac Corp., a call- center and warehouse services […]
Where's the journalism at ShareSleuth?
Forbes.com columnist Gary Weiss jumped on the investigative business journalism site ShareSleuth.com again, wondering why the site hasn’t written more stories and why it’s focusing on one company. Weiss believes that’s because the site is being used to promote the investments of its majority investor, Mark Cuban. Weiss wrote, “Sharesleuth.com slammed Xethanol for the third […]
Stock lists and the biz media
Consultant Geoff Considine ponders the use of stock picks in various business publications and wonders what consumers actually do with such lists in a post on the Seeking Alpha web site. Considine, who has a consulting firm in Colorado that helps portfolio managers, wrote, “I have always had something of an issue with stock pick […]
