What fixing CNBC would do

Yvette Kantrow, the executive editor of The Deal, writes about the recent activist campaign to change business news network CNBC.

Kantrow writes, “Far be it for us to defend the network, which we think of as a strange blend of ‘Access Hollywood’ meets CNN meets ‘The Today Show’ for the day-trading set — it’s more entertainment than news; more stock picks than actual business or finance.

“But as we watch everyone (at least on the left) beat up on the network, we can’t help but wonder why critics are specifically targeting CNBC above other media outlets. The most obvious answer is Jon Stewart, of course, but what he so skillfully eviscerated that night wasn’t just the sweating Cramer and his cheerleading CNBC colleagues, but the very idea that everyone could and should play the market; that armed with the right information, you, too, poor worker, can invest like a pro.

“And that’s a belief that’s promulgated not only by CNBC and Cramer, but by the entire personal finance press, from glossies like Money, Smart Money and Kiplinger’s to Web sites such as the Motley Fool and MarketWatch.com and Cramer’s own TheStreet.com to the so-called business sections of scores of local newspapers.”

Read more here.