The fast-food nature of business journalism

Yvette Kantrow, the executive editor of The Deal, writes about the ramifications of a recent ad from Barron’s looking for a financial journalist to write 80 to 100 items per week about the fund industry.

Kantrow writes, “That’s right. Eighty. To 100. Items. A week. Or 16 to 20 items a day. Or at least two an hour. And not just any blog items, no sirree Bob! These pearls of wisdom must include ‘actionable investing ideas’ — aka the kind of insights that can make readers moolah. And one more thing: They should not just focus on the U.S. market, either. Get global.

“That’s right, this Barron’s blogger has to write about all world markets all the time, and is ‘expected to blog when major news breaks, regardless of when that happens.’ As Oliver Stone might put it, ‘Money Never Sleeps.’ And neither, apparently, can this sure-to-be-beleaguered Barron’s staffer.

“Given the state of the job market in general, and the journalism market in particular, I have no doubt that Barron’s (Barron’s!) is getting a huge response to this ad, which ran on Gorkana’s U.S. Journalist Job Alert. But really: Is there anyone out there — journalist, blogger, hedge funder, candlestick maker — who can actually produce 80 to 100 items a week that are not just worth reading (or even merely readable) but ‘actionable’? And if there is, why would such an investor-savant be slaving away for Barron’s, instead of, say, putting those ideas into action for him- or herself? Or at least hosting ‘Mad Money’ on CNBC?”

Read more here.