Time to be blunt about Wall Street meltdown

Marketwatch media critic Jon Friedman writes Friday that the business media covering the Wall Street crisis need to start telling it like it is instead of being reserved.

Friedman writes, “The Wall Street media may want to dispel notions that they’re merely trying to capitalize on a scary time and sell newspapers, increase their Web clicks and raise television ratings. Remember, journalists were skewered after the tech bubble burst in 2000. The public blamed the media for acting as cheerleaders for the fragile Internet stocks.

“But these days, the media are taking their good intentions too far. They’re failing to describe accurately the bloodbath (and, you bet, ‘bloodbath’ is an acceptable word, too).

“So, why, then, are financial reporters tearing up their Roget’s? Maybe they’re trying too hard to do the right thing. Perhaps this is a form of political correctness gone amok.

“Or, simply chalk it all up to wimpiness.”

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