OLD Media Moves

The CNBC vs. Barron's fight continues

February 9, 2009

Barron’s published another story this weekend that argued that CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer‘s record of picking stocks has underperformed the market. It’s not the first time that the weekly business newspaper has done so.

Steve Krakauer of TV Newser posted Monday afternoon a copy of the e-mail exchange between reporter Bill Alpert and CNBC vice president of public relations Brian Steel that illustrates some of the tension between the two business media outlets leading up to the publication of the story.

Here’s an example:

Alpert’s question: “You won’t let me speak with Jim, so when you answer us please tell me whether he shares the views you’re expressing.”

Steel’s response: “Despite the fact that Jim personally spent hours with you answering your questions the last time, you wrote a premeditated hatchet job to curry favor with your new bosses at Newscorp, and as a result, he understandably refused to engage on any level this time. You completely ignored everything he said and your first piece was full of factual inaccuracies, including underreporting ‘Mad Money’s’ measured ratings numbers by a factor of three and misstating personal information; he does not consider you a journalist.”

Read more here.

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