Categories: OLD Media Moves

Fox Biz head encourages network to cover more business news

Kevin Magee, who runs Fox Business Network, has sent a memo to the network’s staffers telling them to cover more business and economics topics and fewer political topics, reports Peter Lauria of Reuters.

Lauria writes, “Unhappy with Fox Business’ focus on politics, Magee fired off a memo to employees reminding them that the network was not created to be a light version of its sister Fox News Channel.

“‘I’ve been asked to remind you all again that they are separate channels and the more we make FBN look like FNC the more of a disservice we do to ourselves,’ Magee said in the memo dated October 5, carrying the subject line ‘Fox News and Fox Business.’

“‘I understand the temptation to imitate our sibling network in hopes of imitating its success, but we cannot,’ Magee went on to say in the memo. ‘If we give the audience a choice between FNC and the almost-FNC, they will choose FNC every time. Earnings, taxes, jobs etc give us PLENTY to chew on.’

“Fox Business, which was launched in October 2007 with $100 million in initial capital, sought to take Wall Street to Main Street by covering business stories for ordinary people — seeing a market as CNBC and Bloomberg Television cater primarily to financial professionals.”

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.