OLD Media Moves

How "Main Street" biz news manifests itself on Fox Business Network

October 15, 2007

Posted by Chris Roush

Joshua Chaffin of The Financial Times took a look Monday at how the new Fox Business Network framed its business news coverage so that the average American could understand the relevance to their lives.

Middle AmericaChaffin wrote, “Nonetheless, the Naked Cowboy seemed revealing of the network’s broader mission to demystify and enliven the world of business – to make what happens on Wall Street palatable for Main Street. Or, as one Fox Business anchor put it during the Money for Breakfast programme: ‘Business is fun!’

“Andrew Tyndall, publisher of the Tyndall Report, which analyses TV newscasts, says: ‘They did exactly what they said they were going to do, which is counter-programming against CNBC and going for a more mainstream audience.’ To that end, Mr Ailes introduced a Fox Business Translator, which takes financial jargon – such as the term ‘blue-chip’ – and clarifies it for the audience.

“Meanwhile, his reporters repeatedly asked guests such as Terry Duffy, chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, what something meant for the folks in ‘Middle America’, that swathe of land west of Manhattan and east of Los Angeles.”

Read more here.

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