Categories: OLD Media Moves

The risks of online business news

Benjamin Pimental of Marketwatch writes about how the Internet has changed how business news is delivered in the wake of the six-year-old United Airlines story that caused its stock to fall.

Pimental writes, “Joseph Grundfest, a professor of law and business at Stanford Law School, said the episode shows that, in today’s market environment, high-speed information cuts both ways.

“‘What you have here is a mistake that caused a very rapid decline in the stock price, but the market also recovered from that decline once the truth was put out within a period of an hour or two or less,’ he said. ‘In a world where news travels more slowly, it could take longer to fix the mistake and more people would be affected.’

“Alan Mutter, a newspaper industry analyst and former newspaper editor, said the event also underscores the dangers that come with the massive information made available at break-neck speed through the Web.

“‘We live in a cascade of electronic babble and people must learn to be more careful about the sources of information,’ he said. ‘Most people think that if it’s on the Internet, then it must be true. … Speed kills, or at least speed can do harm.’

“Mutter also said, ‘While this is a dramatic case, it seems to have been a completely honest mistake.'”

Read more here.

Recent Posts

UN ambassador blasts Russia over WSJ’s Gershkovich

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has lambasted Russia over its continued detention of…

3 hours ago

WSJ shifting Asia ops to Singapore, layoffs occurring

Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker sent out the following on Thursday: Today we announced…

10 hours ago

Is it a news organization, or a hedge fund?

Clare Malone of The New York writes about Hunterbrook, which is using reporting from journalists to…

12 hours ago

Awards editor Coates is leaving The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter awards editor Tyler Coates is leaving the news organization. His last day will be…

12 hours ago

Purkess promoted to consumer features editor at The Sun

Laura Purkess has been promoted to consumer features editor at The Sun. She will maintain…

12 hours ago

Ferrier, senior biz reporter at Coloradoan, is retiring

Pat Ferrier, senior business reporter at the Coloradoan in Fort Collins, is retiring after 23…

12 hours ago