What happens when biz journalists get angry

CJR Daily writer Edward B. Colby argues when business journalists get mad, what results is good journalism, and often journalism that is powerful. His Exhibit A is a story about $7 billion worth of bond deals gone bad in Bloomberg Markets, a magazine not noted for taking a stand for the little guy.

Colby wrote, “The initial effect of this introductory two-page spread is startling, coming as it does from ‘The magazine for and about people who move markets.’ But judging by its current issue, and its relentless 18-page ‘Broken Promises’ package, Bloomberg Markets takes a more expansive view of business news, one that values that seemingly quaint notion of the public good.

“In this case, Bloomberg’s William Selway, Martin Z. Braun and David Dietz outline a scandal of staggering proportions, then make their case through exhaustive research and reporting that backs up the splashy start.”

Later, he added, “Municipal bonds might not naturally come to mind when considering financial corruption, but Bloomberg’s writers manage to make this obscure, arcane issue come alive for Street obsessive types and general readers alike. (Our only quibble is that the story is too long, but we’ll take this kind of business reporting any day. Not surprisingly, searches in LexisNexis of major papers, magazines and news wires and in Factiva of the Wall Street Journal and Reuters turned up no relevant articles on black box bond deals over the past six months.)”

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