In 2007, the sexy media will be in business news

Marketwatch columnist Jon Friedman writes Wednesday that the media’s most compelling battles will occur in business journalism with the launch of the Fox business news cable channel and the Conde Nast Portfolio business magazine.

Friedman stated, “Who will win? Who knows. Portfolio has deliberately kept mum about its contents, style and tone. Likewise, Fox News chief Roger Ailes has wisely offered no details.

“The ever-shrewd Ailes, however, has a history of zagging when the competition is zigging. So I expect Fox to pursue a niche that corporate-oriented CNBC has neglected. Look for Fox to focus on individual investors.

“Portfolio will face off against Fortune. Other business magazines are associated with investing and the stock market. Plus, BusinessWeek is a quasi-newsweekly and Forbes is quite idiosyncratic.

“To surpass Fortune, Portfolio must be, above all, SURPRISING.

“The knock on business magazines is that they’re far too predictable. They tend to feature the same old people on their covers. Is there anything about Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Rupert Murdoch, et al that we don’t already know? And aren’t you a little tired, already, of those Google Guys?

“For its part, Fox has to find ENTERTAINMENT value in otherwise ordinary business stories. Fox will need to develop something fresh. In its presentation of general news, its highly successful formula has combined the catchiest elements of talk radio (chatty morning anchors and in-your-face hosts at night), with (detractors charge) a right-wing spin.”

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