Categories: OLD Media Moves

CNNMoney.com pulls story after personal finance journalist complains

Jill Krasny of Business Insider reports that CNNMoney.com pulled a video story recommending people buy lottery tickets after personal finance journalist Zac Bissonette complained it was dubious.

Krasny writes, “Per Bissonette: ‘I hesitate to even say this, but if you do buy lottery tickets, picking random numbers is the way to do it. Using random numbers you pick means you’re more likely to pick numbers someone else has, and they’ll you’ll be more likely to split.’

“Bissonette describes the video as an epic fail for a credible and highly respected news site.

“‘The best thing you can say about this video is that people are flushing $40 away on the book,’ he says. ‘But it’s dangerous—(the video) encouraged a lot of people to buy the book and spend money on lottery tickets that they shouldn’t buy.’
“When tapped to comment, a CNN spokesperson emailed this response: ‘The CNNMoney newsroom takes great pride in its journalism, with consistently high standards for reporting. This video fell short of that mark and we’ve chosen to remove it from our site.'”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.