What Dorfman meant to biz journalism

Doug Kass of TheStreet.com writes Sunday about the influence of Dan Dorfman, a longtime business journalist who died Saturday, on the industry.

Kass writes, “Today’s business commentators — and an entire network, CNBC — owe Dan a lot, too. He paved their way and provided a template, in the early days, of ‘hard-hitting’ and ‘market-moving’ journalism. Just ask commentators such as Ron Insana, Dennis Gartman, Herb Greenberg, Bill Griffeth, Dan Kadlec as to the importance of his influence on their craft.

“His pedigree wasn’t fancy. He grew up in an orphanage. His early years were spent in West Hempstead, N.Y., the Long Island town next to Rockville Centre, where I grew up. He graduated from the New York School of Print the year that I was born, 1949.

“In the 1980s he was a featured commentator on CNN (often appearing with Myron Kandel) and eventually went to CNBC in the 1990s. Dan was also the influential author of The Wall Street Journal’s Heard on The Street Column’ in the 1980s. During his career he wrote for New York Magazine, Money, USA Today and The New York Sun, and his columns were syndicated around the world.

“In my view Dan was one of the most important contributors — arguably the most important and influential contributor — to the great success that CNBC holds today.”

Read more here.