Categories: OLD Media Moves

Barron's misses the mark on Target

TheStreet.com media critic Marek Fuchs writes Wednesday that a Barron’s story about Target Corp.’s recent earnings missed the bulls’ eye when discussing its credit card issues.

Fuchs writes, “To The Wall Street Journal, representative of much of the longer-form work, credit card trouble was the first factor mentioned in the lead sentence to explain why net income fell: ‘Discount retailer Target Corp. will curb store expansion and tighten credit-card terms after reporting fiscal-second-quarter net income fell 7.6% because of credit-card write-offs and weak sales.’

“Even better, the Journal then devoted the next four paragraphs to credit card receivables, before making clear what worked: ‘Target has successfully managed inventories and labor expense controls to avoid profit-sapping mark downs and expenses, Gregg Steinhafel, chief executive, told investors Tuesday. Retail gross margin, a measure of profitability, rose slightly in most areas, he said.’

“Compare this with the work of another Dow Jones publication, Barron’s. It ran a one-paragraph capsule yesterday on Target’s earnings — and if a savvy investor read only that one paragraph, guess what? He wouldn’t have heard word one about the credit card trouble.

“Notice, though, how when a big factor is left on the cutting room floor, the smaller article does not quite add up. The second sentence refers to Target’s ‘dreary fortunes,’ and in the third sentence, we are told that the company ‘did a pretty good job of managing its operations.'”

Read more here

Recent Posts

Reuters seeks a fact-checking editor

Reuters is seeking an experienced editor to take part in our fact-checking project and support the…

2 hours ago

Making financial news more accessible

CNBC Make It reporter Ashton Jackson writes about ways to make financial news more accessible to consumers.…

14 hours ago

SABEW names Best in Business Book winners

The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing announced Wednesday the winners and finalists for…

19 hours ago

Business leaders turning away from traditional biz news outlets

Business professionals are turning away from traditional business media sources such as newspapers, magazines and…

19 hours ago

Wired seeks a reporter to cover tech companies

WIRED seeks a reporter to cover tech companies and their influence, with a particular focus…

21 hours ago

Austin daily hires Leonard as tech reporter

Karoline Leonard has been hired by the Austin American-Statesman as a technology reporter. Leonard graduated from…

24 hours ago