Categories: OLD Media Moves

WSJ fails in reporting about itself

Ken Doctor, former managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press,Â writes on his Content Bridges web site that The Wall Street Journal failed miserably Tuesday in being objective in reporting a story that involved the paper.

The story is about how NASDAQ is now offering real-time stock quotes on the Internet.

Doctor writes, “After a few more paragraphs of description, we learn that Nasdaq ‘partners’ are paying a maximum of $150,000 a month for the service, but we aren’t given the usual standard of Journal reporting to explain whether the number of partners is limited, or whether Journal readers will now see these listings real-time most everywhere. (In fact, it looks like the deal is non-exclusive, according to this more straightforward Reuters story).

“Then we come to more self-promotion.

On WSJ.com, the real-time prices are presented along with the standard, comprehensive 15-minute delayed prices from the major U.S. markets. Comprehensive quotes reflect the “composite” quote for an issue. When no real-time trade is available from Nasdaq, readers will find composite quotes only.These new prices are displayed in Quotes & Research on WSJ.com, as well as in the “rollover” quotes that are included in Markets Data Center, at WSJMarkets.com.

“And how might Google Finance and CNBC be doing their implementations? No word of that.

“Ouch. The Journal failed Journalism 101 here. It could be simple sloppiness, or it could be a long hand of News Corp, which seems challenged in understanding the difference between journalism and promotion. I hope it’s the former, but fear its the latter.”