Maria's column in BusinessWeek

If you haven’t seen it yet, CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, who became famous for her reports from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, now has a twice-weekly column in BusinessWeek. Apparently this does not conflict with her primary employer’s relationship with The Wall Street Journal.

The Money Honey’s initial column, which is called “Face Time with Martia Bartiromo,” was with disgraced former American International Group Inc. CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg. My initial reaction is that the first column was a lot of fluff and not a lot of substance. If the Q&A that readers got was part of a lengthier interview, then I hope Maria asked tougher questions during other parts of her talk with Hank. (I’m not posting a link to the column online because you have to be a subscriber to view it on the Internet. See if you can grab a copy in the office.)

This is one of the moves being made by new editor Stephen Adler to put a flashier face onto what many consider to be a staid magazine, although it has a bigger circulation than either Forbers or Fortune. But for me, I prefer three other columnists at BW — Robert Barker, Gene Marcial and Steve Wildstrom.

Let’s hope Maria acquires a better columnist voice soon.