Categories: OLD Media Moves

Wall Street’s watchdog: Gasparino

Fox Business Network senior reporter Charles Gasparino is profiled in the latest Cigar Aficionado magazine by Mervyn Rothstein.

Rothstein writes, “Gasparino is always on the move, and Gasparino is a star, hired away from dominant CNBC to help the young Fox network in the cable ratings race. He has been quoted as saying that his job at Fox is to ‘rip the lungs out of the competition’ — to ‘come up with a scoop’ every day and ‘promote that scoop.’ And here he is, doing just that.

“An aide fits him with a microphone, and he walks through the brightly lighted studio — its floor largely a very appropriate Republican red — and joins the coanchors for his three or so on-air minutes of trademark Gasparino.

“MarketWatch, the financial information website, has called him ‘Fox’s Rocky Balboa.’ He once said that his CNBC colleagues considered him ‘a pain in the ass’ — but that it was a good thing. He is respected, sometimes feared, maybe occasionally even hated. As the cliché goes, he takes no prisoners.

“When he’s reporting a story, when he’s doing a TV interview, he’s tough and persistent. ‘You come on the air, and I’m there, I’m going to break your chops,’ he says. ‘I’m going to be an asshole. A lot of times, TV invites these people on and they’re considered guests. I don’t look at you as a guest.’

“Despite, or because of, this no-nonsense attitude, the emphasis is on respected. When Gasparino was with CNBC, Lucas van Praag, then the chief spokesman for Goldman Sachs, the powerful investment banking and securities firm, was quoted as saying, ‘Most trading floors have CNBC on with the sound turned down, but when Charlie comes on, they listen.’ Charlie has a knack for making people listen.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

Recent Posts

Dow Jones senior VP Jones is departing

Brent Jones, the senior vice president of training, culture and community at Dow Jones, is…

10 mins ago

WSJ seeks a logistic bureau chief

The Wall Street Journal is looking for an editor to lead its coverage of logistics…

12 hours ago

WSJ seeks a health care reporter

The Wall Street Journal seeks an enterprising and ambitious reporter to cover the intersection of…

12 hours ago

WSJ seeks a trade reporter in DC

The Wall Street Journal is seeking a reporter in Washington, DC, to chronicle one of…

12 hours ago

Reuters hires WSJ’s Hirtenstein

Reuters has hired Wall Street Journal reporter Anna Hirtenstein. She will start next month. Hirtenstein has…

18 hours ago

Moody joins Bloomberg as Americas news director

Caroline Gage, head of the Americas for Bloomberg News, sent the following announcement to staff:…

19 hours ago