The CNBC anchor who attacked the bloggers

Felix Gillette of the New York Observer profiles CNBC‘s Dennis Kneale, who recently has taken to the air to criticize the bloggers who have attacked him.

Gillette writes, “Mr. Kneale was sitting across from The Observer at the Redeye Grill on Seventh Avenue on a recent Monday afternoon, digging into a chopped Asian salad, and mulling the trajectory of his first solo mission in cable news. Mr. Kneale compared the move from Power Lunch to 8 p.m. to his transition a decade or so earlier from The Wall Street Journal, where individual reporters rarely stand out from the larger brand, to Forbes, where individualism was prized. For the first time in his nascent TV career, Mr. Kneale could do his own thing.

“‘During the day, it’s like what’s happening and what does it mean right then,’ said Mr. Kneale. ‘But at nighttime, there’s a chance to say, ‘Wait a minute, take a breath. No more emails, no more texts, no more headlines. Let’s decide what makes us happy.’’

“And, more importantly, what makes you mad.

“Over the years, picking a fight with another member of the media has proven to be a reliable staple of the cable news genre. But historically, the strategy has been to ‘punch up’ at a bigger target, not to beat down on pygmy bloggers struggling at the lower rungs of the trade.”

Read more here.