Consumers need more — and better — personal finance reporting

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Media need to spend more time covering personal finance issues so that consumers can take better control of their lives, a panel of personal finance journalists said Friday.

“The bad news is that it continues to be a category that is the Rodney Dangerfield of journalism,” said Jonathan Dahl, the editor in chief of SmartMoney. “When you look at most news organizations, the amount of resources just aren’t there.

“They don’t cover Washington this way. They don’t cover the Middle East like this…The good news is think of all the amazing stories out there that aren’t being covered.”

The panel occurred Friday at the annual Society of American Business Editors and Writers conference in Dallas.

Liz Pulliam Weston, a personal finance columnist for MSN and AARP’s magazine, said that the lack of personal finance knowledge shows the need for such coverage.

She has had a consumer contact her and ask her whether she could pay more than the minimum monthly payment on her credit card.

“We’re still not reaching a huge number of people, and I’m not sure that we ever will,” said Weston.

Sometimes, the coverage sends the wrong message because it’s written by journalists who don’t understand personal finance concepts such as how a credit score works. “A lot of it is complete crap,” said Weston.

Others agree.

“We did see what could happen when people have trouble with personal finance,” said Gail MarksJarvis, a personal finance columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

John Wasik, a personal finance columnist for Reuters, said he’s focusing on writing and explaining esoteric financial products being sold to consumers. MarksJarvis noted that writing about complex products makes the reporting and writing more difficult.

Larry Ingrassia, the business editor of the New York Times, said his paper’s personal finance coverage is geared toward the widest available audience. But MarkJarvis wondered if personal finance coverage was reaching the audience that needed it the most by appearing in the business section.

“One of the problems is the pure amount of crap that’s out there and wading through it to find the good stuff,” said Weston. “There’s a huge population out there that needs us, but they can’t find us when they need us.”

MarksJarvis suggested that the best personal finance coverage focuses on reader’s fears about money, savings and budgeting.