Monthly Archives: October 2006
Finalists for Business & Financial Reporting Emmys announced
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CBS dominated the nominations for the fourth annual Emmy Awards for Business & Financial Reporting, with 15 nominations. Nine of the 15 nominations were for segments done by the “60 Minutes” staff.
NBC was a distant second with five nominations, while CNBC garnered four nominations, according to a news release from the National Television Academy. CNN and PBS each received three nominations.
The Emmy Awards for Business & Financial Reporting recognize outstanding achievement in business & financial reporting telecast from July 1, 2005 thru June 30, 2006. A total of 33 nominations in seven categories were announced Tuesday.
At the ceremony, the National Television Academy will present its Lifetime Achievement Award in Business & Financial Reporting to Paul Steiger, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, overseeing U.S. and international print and online editions, and vice president of Dow Jones & Co. CNN’s Lou Dobbs received the lifetime award in 2005.
“The importance of economic journalism became paramount to consumers over the past year,� said Peter Price, President/CEO, National Television Academy, “as we strove to understand skyrocketing gas prices, the real estate downturn, the ups and downs of the stock market, and a myriad of financial issues. This year’s entries demonstrated the real value of business and financial reporting to the consumer, and the nominees represent the best of an excellent body of work.�
A complete list of the nominees and the categories can be found here. The awards will be presented on Thursday, Dec. 7 at the Rainbow Room in New York City. The event will be sponsored by Condé Nast Portfolio, a new business magazine launching in spring 2007.
CNBC has best month since April 2004
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The new records in the Dow Jones Industrial Average have meant more viewers for business news cable network CNBC, according to the TVNewser.
TVNewser stated, “CNBC’s Business Day programming, from 5am to 7pm Monday through Friday, averaged 70,000 viewers in the coveted 25-54 demo in Oct. 2006 — its best time period performance in two and a half years (since April 2004).
“Business Day was up 71 percent versus an Oct. 2005 average of 41,000 demo viewers. Every CNBC show from 6am to 8pm increased its demo audience over last October.
“The network’s ‘year-to-year gains were largest during market hours (94,000 A25-54 from 9:30-4:00p), up 92% versus last October (49,000),’ according to an internal ratings release… ”Read more here.
Serwer named new ME for Fortune
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Andy Serwer, who has been an editor at large, has been named managing editor of Fortune, according to a news release issued by parent company Time Inc. and obtained by Talking Biz News.
Serwer, 47, succeeds Eric Pooley, who will work with Time’s editor in chief John Huey and managing editor Jim Kelly on investigative projects. The appointment is effective immediately.
“No matter what project Andy takes on, he handles it with intelligence, wit and energy,â€? Huey said in the release. “It is also safe to say that no journalist knows today’s business story better than Andy Serwer. I am confident that he will bring his knowledge of both the story and the multimedia landscape to the helm of Fortune in exciting ways that will work to its great advantage in the future.â€?
“I really am thrilled to be running a magazine with such a rich history and such a bright future,â€? Serwer said. “I look forward to working with my longstanding colleagues – the best business journalists on the planet. We’re going to have a blast.â€?
As editor-at-large at Fortune since 1998, Serwer writes the “Street Life� column as well as stories about the personalities and behind-the-scenes action on Wall Street. His work has ranged from his provocative column in every issue to major cover stories on everything from the young Michael Dell to Michael Price (“The Toughest S.O.B. on Wall Street�) to the business of the Rolling Stones to the first look inside the financial and philanthropic workings of America’s richest family, the Waltons.
In addition to his magazine work, Andy became one of the industry’s first internet stars nine years ago with his daily market round-up on Fortune.com, also called “Street Life,” that has more than 50,000 e-mail subscribers. He has also been the very successful business anchor of CNN’s American Morning news show. He will continue to have an on-air presence on CNN.
Serwer joined Fortune in 1985 as an intern from the Columbia Journalism School, and was later promoted to associate editor. He quickly went on to become one of its most insightful, popular and productive writers. In addition to covering Wall Street, investing, information technology, and entertainment for the magazine, Serwer has also edited and written the front of the book section of Fortune, which includes breaking news and features focusing on business personalities, media, and technology.
Gawker writes that Serwer’s appointment shocked “anyone with a stake in the matter, apparently — an inside source dismisses his work as ‘stock chit-chat stuff, pretty shallow.’” It also quotes Huey’s internal e-mail explaining the appointment: “We all know that the world of business journalism has increasingly become a multi-media proposition, involving not only the magazine but its brand representations on the internet, on television and radio, wherever the reader wants his or her information. And no one is more qualified to lead FORTUNE on those multiple fields of battle than Andy.”
Bernice Kanner, 57, wrote about advertising and marketing
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Bernice Kanner, a former reporter for The New York Times and The Daily News who was also editor of WomensBiz.US, died Oct. 24, according to a story in the Times. She was 57.
Dennis Hevesi wrote, “Ms. Kanner also wrote first-person features for New York magazine, based on experiences like working as a cab driver and behind the counter at Wendy’s. ‘One of her stunts was to see how hard it was to buy a gun,’ her daughter said.
“In 1999, Ms. Kanner wrote ‘The 100 Best TV Commercials … and Why They Worked,’ based on a survey of leading advertising professionals. ‘It’s chic to say you’re immune to advertising,’ Ms. Kanner said, ‘but it does invade our pores.’”
Read more here. Kanner began her career at Advertising Age in 1974.
An obituary in Ad Age noted, “She may be best known for writing, for 13 years until 1994, ‘On Madison Avenue,’ a weekly marketing column for New York Magazine, where she was also a senior editor. Ms. Kanner got her start covering marketing as a senior editor at Advertising Age, and during her career was a columnist for the New York Daily News and a writer at JWT.”
Economist acquires GalleryWatch
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The Economist has acquired GalleryWatch, a company that tracks legislation for businesses, according to a story in the Washington Business Journal.
The article stated that GalleryWatch would become part of Roll Call, which The Economist also owns. It said, “The 10-year-old Austin company provides real-time online legislation information, and allows users to search, track and analyze the federal and Texas legislatures.
“‘We are very excited about the acquisition of GalleryWatch,’ Roll Call Publisher Laurie Battaglia says in a statement. ‘We believe there is great opportunity for growth because of its potential scalability.’”
Read more here.
Mnookin: Best NYT columnist is biz section's Stein
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Author and journalist Seth Mnookin writes on his blog that Ben Stein, the part-time movie actor and son of a famous economist, is the best columnist in the New York Times.
Mnookin wrote, “Sunday is ugly stepdaughter of the Business department (although recent efforts to improve its quality have resulted in marked improvement). The people who cherish the Sunday Times — you know, the ‘she reads the Book Review, I do the crossword’ people — are the liberal arts, self-styled intellectual types who want to read about books (even if they don’t read books), or want to be up-to-date on the arts world (even if they don’t actually go to museums). Business folk, on 
the other hand, are not reaching for a door stopper-sized paper on Sundays. They get their news during the actual work-week; that’s why the Wall Street Journal doesn’t even bother publishing on Sundays. (Its recent Saturday edition was created mainly to draw in more women readers.) A recent stilted effort to move the Times media coverage from Monday to Sunday died a quick death when the paper’s media writers staged a mini-revolt.
“But I digress. Stein’s column — this week’s was about the total lack of shame in corporate America — isn’t so good because it’s well-written and easy to understand, although it’s both. Its strength lies in the fact that many of Stein’s columns seem to go against what you’d assume Stein’s views to be; a life-long Republican and former speech writer and lawyer in the Nixon administration could reasonably be assumed to be a deranged firebreather (think Pat Buchanan) or at least a reliable conservative (think William Safire). But a surprising number of Stein’s columns decry the greed (and stupidity) or corporate America. What’s more, Stein’s pieces seem more affable than angry. He’s not shouting from the treetops or preaching to the converted, which is the trap most opinion-mongers on both sides of the aisle fall into. He likes money. He likes being well off. But he doesn’t let that, or his political affiliation, blind him to the realities of our current economic environment.”
Read more here. Stein’s column is called Everybody’s Money and runs in the Sunday Times. Bueller? Bueller?
WSJ radio tops 100 stations
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The Wall Street Journal Radio Network announced Monday that its morning business-news radio show, ‘The Wall Street Journal This Morning,’ is now syndicated on 100 stations nationwide.
New additions to the lineup include: WGST-AM Atlanta, WWL-AM/FM New Orleans, WTAR-AM Norfolk, WLAC-AM Nashville, KCOL-AM Ft. Collins, WBUV-FM Biloxi and WCME-FM Portland, Maine.“We are proud of the success of our programs. ‘The Wall Street Journal This Morning’ and ‘The Wall Street Journal This Weekend,’ continue to provide the most compelling and informative hour of business news on the radio,” said Nancy Abramson, executive director, The Wall Street Journal Radio Network. “Host Gordon Deal and news anchor Gina Cervetti offer theperfect blend of money news, personality and humor to early morning radio.”
The one-hour show, hosted by Deal, is the first look at the day’s top business news and information. The weekend version, ‘The Wall Street Journal This Weekend,’ covers the top business stories of the week along with original weekend coverage. Recent affiliates to the 
weekend show include: WGST-AM Atlanta, WHJJ-AM Providence, WWL-AM/FM New Orleans, WBWT-FM Tallahassee and WCME-FM Portland, Maine.
‘The Wall Street Journal This Morning’ and ‘The Wall Street Journal This Weekend’ are available as podcasts on WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription business-news web site (wsj.com/podcasts). The podcasts are also available for radio station affiliates to download to their own web sites.
BusinessWeek's small biz magazine increases issues
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Due to consumer and advertiser demand, BusinessWeek will increase the frequency of its Small Biz magazine. Formerly a quarterly publication, the magazine will now publish six times per year.
Launched in 2004, SmallBiz is distributed on newsstands and through controlled circulation. The increased frequency follows praise for SmallBiz. In February, the magazine increased its rate base by 30 percent. The publication has also been honored with two prestigious Neal Awards for Best Start-Up Publication in 2005 and Best Single Issue in 2006.
The BW media kit on its web site stats that Small Biz is read by 650,000 people each issue and will increase that number to 675,000 for the February/March 2007 issue.
“The superb editorial content in Small Biz has driven both consumer and advertiser demand for the magazine,� said BusinessWeek Senior Vice President and Publisher Geoffrey Dodge. “The new bi-monthly schedule will allow us to better meet the needs of both our readers and our customers.�
BusinessWeek is a leading global business media organization, providing insight and analysis to a worldwide audience of business leaders. Founded in 1929 and published by the McGraw-Hill Cos., BusinessWeek magazine has more than 4.7 million readers each week in 140 countries. Local language editions include Chinese, Russian, and Bahasa Indonesian.
FT parent posts higher profits due to better ad sales
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Pearson Plc, the London-based parent of The Financial Times newspaper, reported a double-digit increase in net income in the third quarter and predicted record profits for the year, partly due to higher ad sales at its flagship newspaper.
London Times reporter Miles Costello wrote, “The FT Group, which also houses newsletters and other specialist business publications, appears to have shrugged off much of the gloom gripping advertising markets, with ad revenues rising by 10 per cent over the first nine months of the year.
“‘We still have a lot of trading ahead of us, but we are on track to produce Pearson’s highest profits ever this year,’ [CEO Marjorie Scardino] said. ‘That will be the result of strong performances from all parts of Pearson, together with our company-wide efforts to use our scale and technology to improve margins and create valuable new services for our customers.’
“Last year Pearson made pre-tax profits of £466 million, on record profits at its education division and a continuing turnaround at the FT. Consensus forecast profits for this year are about £490 million.
“Sales at the FT Group, where the FT has moved successfully to combine its online and newspaper output, rose 5 per cent over the nine months. Pearson said: ‘We continue to expect the FT Group to make further significant profit improvement in 2006 compared with 2005.’”
Read more here.
CNN coverage is too negative on the economy
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Julia Seymour of the Business & Media Institute critiques CNN’s coverage of the economy and noted that with the exception of Fortune editor Andy Serwer, most of the comments are negative.
“Andy Serwer, editor-at-large of Fortune magazine, and a show regular, responded with a voice of reason to Cafferty’s attack.
“‘See, I think we gotta take a step back here and tell ourselves that as far as the economy goes, it doesn’t get any better than this. I mean, think about it, the Federal Reserve didn’t touch interest rates. That means it thinks the economy is neither too hot, nor too cold. The stock market’s going up, energy prices are down, what more do you want?’ asked Serwer.
“But CNN business anchor Jennifer Westhoven disagreed with Serwer and said ‘the housing market looks pretty bad and you know heating costs are gonna be really tough this winter.’”
Read more here.