Good and bad in business journalism, says Cramer

There are some good and bad areas of business journalism, said CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer, and also some areas that could use improvement.

“Business journalism is now everywhere, and just a keystroke away, as it should be,” said Cramer, who was the dinner speaker at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers annual conference on Saturday night.

Cramer said that he thinks that coverage of the intersection of Washington and business is “superb,” but he lamented most of the company coverage in the country. He also was critical of coverage of the Securities and Exchange Commission, calling it “perplexing.”

In terms of company coverage, Cramer told the audience that he used to subscribe to daily newspapers around the country to read their coverage of local companies. That has changed, he said, and daily newspapers no longer provide good coverage of companies.

“I find our coverage of individual cmpanies to not be aggressive enough,” said Cramer, although he noted that there is too much coverage of companies such as Apple, Google and Yahoo. “This is a horrendous development.” Cramer urged business journalists to be more aggressive in their coverage of executives who have mismanaged companies.

Cramer also noted how the internet has changed business journalism, and he defended CNBC’s recent “Rise Above” campaign.

The co-founder of TheStreet.com also admitted that he hasn’t necessarily done a good job always with his coverage, but he said he believed that the industry needed to start a discussion on how to improve coverage.

“The stock market coverage is too bearish,” Cramer added. “We need to be more even.”

During an earlier conversation with Talking Biz News, Cramer said he was a big fan of Bloomberg News and its coverage.