What the Bartiromo/Citigroup scandal tells us about ourselves

David Weidner, who covers Wall Street for Marketwatch, has what I consider to be the most insightful commentary about the recent controversy surrounding CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo‘s trip on a Citigroup corporate jet.

Weidner wrote, “What if I told you that the other day I spent eight hours on a plane with a high-ranking female executive of one of the world’s biggest financial-services firms?

“Would you think, ‘Well, that’s great. Here’s a journalist working hard to understand, translate and provide his readers with information about that company?’ Or, ‘how can we trust someone who would accept a plush plane ride?’ Or, would you think ‘hubba hubba?’

“Now, what if that executive was male?”

Later, Weidner added, “We’ve also found that there is a very fine line between being a reporter whose job it is to reveal information to an audience and someone who is blinded by their own star, greed or the lure of becoming a player, like the people we cover.

“And the runaway popularity of this story also tells us something about ourselves. We seem to be less interested in whether or not Citigroup is well run, or its stock price.”

Read more here.