St. Louis Biz Journal criticized for posing business women with their shoes

St. Louis Business Journal's most influential business women

St. Louis Business Journal’s Most Influential Business Women

The St. Louis Business Journal is being criticized for profiling the city’s 25 “Most Influential Business Women” in a photo gallery that shows each with a pair of shoes, writes Kate Irby of McClatchy.

Irby writes, “‘We asked this year’s class of Most Influential Business Women to tell us about the pair of shoes that best describes them, and more importantly, why,’ wrote Vince Brennan, the managing editor of the Journal. ‘While some in the newsroom initially balked at the idea, it turned out to be the perfect filter to show readers the best qualities of these 25 spectacular business women.’

“The readers disagreed that this was a ‘perfect filter.’

“‘Would you ask St. Louis’ most influential business men (sic) to pose with a pair of shoes that define them,’ one reader wondered on Facebook. ‘Seems a little strange.'”‘What’s on tap for next week?’ another wrote. ‘‘We Asked Ten Female Heads Of State To Make Their Husbands A Sandwich That Reflects Their Governing Style.’'”

Read more here. The business newspaper’s Facebook page, where the comments are being made, is here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.