Categories: OLD Media Moves

Downplaying layoff news

Hal Morris, writing on his Grumpy Editor blog, comments that The Wall Street Journal downplayed 4,000 layoffs at Bank of America that received much bigger coverage at other papers.

Morris wrote, “But the revelation received only one large paragraph (under In Brief) in yesterdayâ€™s WSJ.

“That compares with more detailed stories in the affected areas of Michigan, which will lose 1,500 of those jobs, and Illinois, where 2,500 will get pink slips over the next two years.

“Major articles on the layoffs were in yesterdayâ€™s Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. The New York Times gave the development six paragraphs via a Reuters report.

“In Charlotte, N.C., where BofA has its headquarters and 15,000 employees, yesterdayâ€™s Charlotte Observer buried the dual-state layoffs with two short paragraphs deep into a feature, â€œBofA’s Lewis aids stability in time of turmoil,â€? along with a photo of CEO Ken Lewis.

Read more here.

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.