Categories: OLD Media Moves

Biz magazines are to blame for investor's problems

If business magazine coverage is a contrary indicator of what to invest in, then 2008 will go down as a great year for ignoring what they say, writes Ryan Tate of Gawker.

Tate notes that Fortune‘s December 2007 issue recommended that investors buy Merrill Lynch stock, and a BusinessWeek column from April recommended investing in Lehman Brothers.

Tate adds, “In April, Forbes published a cover story about Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, headlined ‘No Thain, No Gain.’ Like Fortune, Forbes spends a lot of time talking to the executives it covers, and angling for access. It has been known to churn out plenty of hagiography, if not as steadily as its competitor, and the Thain piece edged into that territory: Thain was compared to Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent, called the ‘Mr. Fixit’ at his last job and described as ‘athletic’ and ‘coolheaded.’ Even his facial expressions were reassuring, with a grin that ‘says, No need to brace for disaster.’

“Some of those compliments held up reasonably well, given that Thain managed to sell Merrill just in the nick of time, and at a point when two similarly-troubled competitors could not find buyers.

“But then ForbesDaniel Fisher had to go and write, ‘Aside from its obvious troubles—afflicting all the largest financial institutions (see chart)—Merrill is in damn good shape… Part of Thain’s job, like that of a good physician, is to do no harm. Meaning: Keep the cash machine going…’ Whoops.”

Read more here

Recent Posts

Dynamo hires former Business Insider executive editor Harrington

Former Business Insider executive editor Rebecca Harrington has been hired by Dynamo to be its…

2 days ago

Bloomberg TV hires Kerubo as desk producer

Bloomberg Television has hired Brenda Kerubo as a desk producer in London. She will be covering Europe's…

2 days ago

Jittery CNBC staff reassured by new boss

In a meeting at CNBC headquarters Thursday afternoon, incoming boss Mark Lazarus presented a bullish…

2 days ago

Making business news accessible to a wider audience

Ritika Gupta, the BBC's North American business correspondent, was interviewed by Global Woman magazine about…

2 days ago

Rest of World hires Lo as China reporter

Rest of World has hired Kinling Lo as a China reporter. Lo was previously a…

2 days ago

Bloomberg rises to No. 7 biz news website

Bloomberg News saw strong unique visitor growth to its website in October, passing Fox Business…

2 days ago