Bear Stearns becomes easy biz media target

Yvette Kantrow of The Deal writes Thursday that the media’s coverage of the Bear Stearns’ bailout is typical in that business  journalists always attack the easy target.

Kantrow wrote, “Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times, naturally, led the charge. ‘But why save Bear Stearns?’ she demanded. ‘The beneficiary of this bailout, remember, has often operated in the gray areas of Wall Street and with an aggressive, brass-knuckles approach.’ In other words, Bear deserves to die. Never mind what that might mean for the economy. Never mind the legality. Die.

“Morgenson was quickly cheered. The Audit wasted no time in rewarding her a ‘credit’ for ‘putting the odious Bear Stearns in perspective.’ Yes, odious. CJR also declared that Bear CEO Alan Schwartz ‘lied about’ the firm’s cash problems ‘until it was impossible to keep lying,’ as though it knew.

“And over on his blog, New Republic editor Marty Peretz directed readers to Morgenson’s piece and expressed hope that Bear’s CEO — it was unclear whether he meant Schwartz or Jimmy Cayne — be indicted for, well, something.

“None of this is surprising, of course. There’s nothing like an apparent ‘bailout,’ to get the media’s blood pumping. And Bear Stearns, never exactly home of saints, is an easy target, thanks to everything from collapsed hedge funds to the A.R. Baron scandal to the bridge-playing, pot-smoking, golfing Cayne.”

Read more here.