The lessons learned from Insana's hedge fund foray

Evan Newmark, writing on the Deal Journal blog of The Wall Street Journal, notes that former CNBC anchor Ron Insana‘s failed attempt at running his own hedge fund should be a lesson to other business journalists.

Newmark writes, “As a one-time investment banker turned columnist, I can tell you it is a tough balancing act for a journalist to cover Wall Street and its armies of financiers. How does a journalist juggle the need for sources with the need for unvarnished reporting? What should the relationship be between a journalist and his sources?

“The case of Ron Insana and his hedge fund highlights how permeable the boundary can be between the worlds of journalism and Wall Street.

“Insana reported on Wall Street and hedge funds for years. He then leveraged his Rolodex to start a fund of funds whose primary selling point was his access to those hedge funds. While raising and investing the capital, Insana continued to appear on CNBC — identified as a senior analyst. When his hedge fund didn’t pan out, he ended up at Stevie Cohen’s shop at SAC.

“I don’t begrudge Insana his jump to the hedge-fund world. Like everyone else, he is just trying to make a buck –- and finding out just how tough that can be.”

Read more here.