Why business journalism is like sports writing

Dana Blankenhorn muses on TheStreet.com about the business journalism profession and what it means to the public.

Blankenhorn writes, “As a journalist, I make calls on companies all the time. As a fan of journalism, I get a kick out of recent posts by the TheStreet’s Rocco Pendola: His demanding the firings of business titans including Reed Hastings of Netflix, Rob Johnson of J.C. Penney and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“Rocco and I are like sportswriters at a baseball game. We can spot a promising rookie, a veteran on the decline and can spin stories that entertain. But you wouldn’t hire a sportswriter to manage a ball club, and you shouldn’t trust a journalist with your money.

“Trust is the problem. There are millions of people who should be in the market, who are about to take huge losses as bond prices drop and interest rates rise. But they’re not in the market because they don’t trust anyone. Nor is there  much reason for them to trust anyone.

“Here at TheStreet, there are people who entertain and people we trust, people we cover who deserve your trust. I entertain. Doug Kass, by contrast, deserves your trust. Warren Buffett and Berkshire-Hathaway deserve your trust. Jack Bogle and Vanguard, as I wrote at my personal blog, deserve your trust.”

Read more here.