Fear and hype on Wall Street
David Cay Johnston, the former New York Times busienss reporter, writes on The New Republic Web site that some recent media coverage of the markets borders on instilling fear in consumers. Johnston writes, “Stock indexes matter in terms of percentage changes, not point changes, because the base changes all the time. How many points an […]
Is biz media to blame for bailout failure?
James Poniewozik of Time magazine writes Tuesday that the business media should shoulder some of the blame on the failure of the Congressional bailout to pass because of its inability to explain the gravity of the situation. Poniewozik writes, “It’s not like the financial press has swept the story under the rug, certainly. But what […]
Brauchli: Biz media did plenty of warning about economic crisis
Jos Strupp of Editor & Publisher writes Tuesday that Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli, previously the top editor at The Wall Street Journal, believes the business media provided ample warning to readers about the current economic upheaval. Strupp writes, “‘There was a lot of coverage over many years about the underlying problems in the […]
Cramer apologizes for being duped by Wachovia CEO
CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer apologized on his show Monday night for recommending Wachovia stock and for comments made two weeks ago by company CEO Robert Steel, who said everything was fine with the bank, writes Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times. Sorkin writes, “It didn’t help that Mr. Cramer later told […]
Waiting for his Pulitzer that prevented the 2008 recession
Peter Brimelow of Marketwatch writes about an article he wrote 15 years ago for Forbes that nobody paid any attention, but foretold of today’s upheaval in the lending industry. Brimelow writes, “How did I become rich and famous while toiling as a wage slave in the impecunious trade of financial journalism? When my grandchildren ask […]
Writing the Wall Street turmoil book as the news event unfolds
Stephanie Smith of Women’s Wear Daily talked to Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times about his plans to write a book on the current Wall Street turmoil. Smith writes, “In Sorkin’s case, he admits ‘the hardest part about this book is to figure out where the story begins and where it ends. It’s […]
Ten current fundamentals of the business press
Dean Starkman of the Columbia Journalism Review writes that with the current upheaval on Wall Street and the business world, there are now 10 fundamentals that the business press must understand and address. Here are a few: 1. Your beat just blew up. From a journalistic standpoint, what we are experiencing today is the equivalent […]
Time to call a crash a crash
Bob Garfield of “On the Media” interviewed Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer about how the business media has been covering the current Wall Street turmoil, and Serwer notes that sometimes the media needs to let readers know when there’s trouble ahead. Here is an excerpt: BOB GARFIELD: We began this conversation talking about the special […]
Biz media claims of another Great Depression are nowhere near accurate
Irwin Kellner of Marketwatch writes Monday that the business media’s claims about the economy are overly melodramatic and simply wrong. Kellner writes, “For example, in recent weeks, the broadcast and the print media have filed stories replete with scare words. You don’t even have to look at the tabloids to see what I mean. “The […]
Financial media drank the Kool-Aid
Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age writes that the business press is as equally to blame for the Wall Street chaos as the executives who caused their companies to fail. Dumenco writes, “Bubbles are, simply, media phenomena; irrational exuberance doesn’t exist in a silent vacuum. Financial manias are media manias; while they may start with Wall […]
