Biz journalism’s role in meltdown was “grossly disappointing,” says Ratigan

Foster Kamer of the New York Observer profiles MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan, who previously worked as a business journalist at Bloomberg News and CNBC, and got his opinion of how financial journalism has performed in the past few years.

Kamer writes, “Primarily, he cites the financial meltdown, and what he sees as the financial press’s failure to prevent it, see it coming, or at minimum explain it to viewers.

“”It’s negligent,’ Mr. Ratigan said, ‘to be in the national media covering a national unemployment crisis, covering a national housing crisis, covering a national education crisis, covering a national poverty crisis,’ and not be communicating the basic underlying principles to your audience.

“For instance, the idea that credit derivatives are not backed by actual assets, he said, ‘is utterly insulting beyond all comprehension. It’s one of those things where the more you learn about it, the more horrifying it becomes.’

“And the Obama administration hasn’t helped matters, he said. ‘We’ve seen no change. We’ve seen the Obama administration and [Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner actually codify and advance’ the broken system. ‘Instead of blaming George Bush or Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, you realize that they’re all doing it!’

“As for financial journalism’s role in the economic meltdown, he said, ‘It’s grossly disappointing.’ He laughed. ‘What do you want me to tell you? It’s embarrassing.'”

Read more here.