Why CNBC and Maria Bartiromo are better than NYT's Floyd Norris

Evan Cooper, deputy editor of Investment News, argues that the attraction for many who watch CNBC and other business news on television is that it’s more real than reality.

Cooper writes, “There’s a drugged quality to the feeling we get as we stare at the moving pictures and are drawn into the TV world of clear beginnings, middles and ends. Who cares if it’s real or worthwhile, it’s exciting!

“In print, financial news can be dull to those who have not developed a taste for the subject. On TV, by contrast, financial news is like sports — it’s up, it’s down, there’s graphics, winners, losers. There’s also good hair, gleaming white teeth and sex. Come on, Floyd Norris, the esteemed financial columnist of the New York Times, is brilliant and insightful and much better informed than Maria Bartiromo, but Floyd has as much TV wow as Ben Stein.

“We all want to watch Maria. But let’s remember that Maria has more in common with the lovely Vanna White than she does with Floyd Norris.”

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