Nightmare on Wall Street

Bruce Newman of the San Jose Mercury News critiques Wednesday the coverage on CNBC and Fox Business Network of the Wall Street turmoil.

Newman writes, “There is a kind of circularity to the news cycle on financial channels. When CNBC credited itself with a scoop about private sector funds being ‘off the table’ as part of any package to bolster American International Group’s balance sheet, it was then also quick to take credit for a further dive in the company’s stock price, claiming the market was ‘responding to our reporting.’

“And maybe it was. Listening to Fox Business News and CNBC, it was easy to believe that you were the only person alive who had never even heard of AIG before it suddenly became the cornerstone of the American economy. When exactly did THAT happen?

“TV’s financial reporters like to talk about what will happen to the economy ‘going forward.’ They say it a lot. They also like to talk about people like Treasury secretary Hank Paulson ‘drawing a line in the sand’ on government bailouts. There is nothing that pleases CNBC’s David Faber — the only male money honey — more than being able to inform his audience that ‘going forward, Paulson is drawing a line in the sand.'”

Read more here.