Bad front-page FT story

Ryan Chittum of the Columbia Journalism Review can’t believe the front-page story in the Monday Financial Times that states that Goldman Sachs’ image has been tarnished and mentions a poll to back up that assertion — but never provides any of the poll’s numbers.

Chittum writes, “The FT bases its assertion on a survey done for it, but never gives a single number from the survey or even an idea of how much damage has been done. How do you miss that?

“The paper reports that ‘Brand Asset Consulting found that Goldman’s stature –- as measured by several gauges of brand strength –- had suffered in 2008 and 2009’ and that Morgan Stanley also has taken hits as well, though not as badly as Goldman.

“But there’s just zero point to this story without any quantification. Anybody with half a brain can tell you that they’ve seen ‘Goldman Sachs reputation tarnished,’ as the FT’s headline says. Who thinks it’s been enhanced?

“Folks, this is on the front page of the newspaper. You’d be hard-pressed to find a high-school rag that writes a story about numbers without including any of the, you know, numbers.”

Read more here.