Monthly Archives: October 2011
Bloomberg warns companies not to give gifts to its employees
by Chris Roush
Joe Pompeo of Capital New York writes Monday that the CFO of Bloomberg LP has sent a note to companies that the media and data company does business with, warning them not to give gifts to Bloomberg employees, including its journalists.
Pompeo writes, “‘As the holiday season approaches, we would like to remind you that Bloomberg has a strict policy that prohibits giving or receiving gifts, including meals, tickets or trips.’
“So begins the letter Bloomberg C.F.O. Patti Roskill sent out last week to a group that includes freelancers for the magazine Bloomberg Businessweek.
“But Roskill reminded vendors that they are only being put on the same footing as all Bloomberg employees: ‘Our employees are instructed to return any gifts, irrespective of their value, to the sender.’
“These sorts of rules are enforced at all mainstream news outlets, but reminder letters like this are often prompted by a serious infraction (or an epidemic of smaller ones). One imagines it’d be easy to make a mistake at a company that issues its employees a 350-page encyclopedia of editorial and ethical standards.
“But a spokesman affirmed that it’s just the scary efficiency of Bloomberg L.P. at work.”
Read more here.
Can media coverage hurt the economy?
by Chris Roush
Rick Montgomery of the Kansas City Star writes this past weekend about whether media coverage of the economy can make it harder for the economy to recover.
Montgomery writes, “Perhaps none of this relates to anything but simple sense about what makes news: When our economy seems to start correcting itself from freefall — as it did that summer two years back — the scribes and talking heads pivot to hotter issues.
“‘It’s not that consumers are dancing to the beat of pundits and newscasters. I think it’s the other way around,’ said Ken Goldstein, an economist for the Conference Board, which issues reports on consumer confidence.
“People lose faith in their economy only when the media drumbeat coincides with what they see in their lives, he said: Friends out of work, retirement accounts sagging, homes foreclosed down the block. And many are seeing all of those things.
“Are people’s perceptions shaped by what they see on TV or read in the paper? … It used to be, whatever Walter Cronkite said was so — but those days are long gone,”’ Goldstein said. ‘To think that today’s consumer is paying so much attention and trusting what the news media says is, to put it kindly, giving the media way too much credit.’
“Still, financial advisers such as John L. Brown know that clients ‘do get spooked’ by features on job loss or foreclosure, pessimistic opinion columns, experts’ forecasts of no relief in sight.”
A love for breaking business news
by Chris Roush
Simone Brummelhuis of The Next Women business magazine interviewed Fox Business Network anchor Sandra Smith about her job and what she likes about covering business news.
Here is an excerpt:
As female business reporter, do you attract a similar/different audience than your older male counterparts?
Our audience is filled with smart, curious people who care about their money. I specifically target an audience that wants to put their money to work with my branded segment called “The Trade”. It is a segment about actionable ideas to make money in the stock and commodity markets.
Sometimes I hear women say they think investing their money responsibly is a man’s world. I like to show all viewers, male and female, the options that are out there to make their money make money.
What business news makes you tick?
BREAKING news. I love the adrenaline rush of breaking news as it happens. Lately I have been reporting from the trading pits of the CME Group in Chicago, and there is nothing more exciting than seeing arms flying, hearing voices raised, and feeling the energy of a big move in the trading pits. Sometimes the markets tell is something is happening before it hits any news wire. I LOVE getting the story. What is causing this?? It’s the best.
Read more here.
CNBC dominates media for financial advisers
by Chris Roush
CNBC is the dominant business and financial media brand for financial advisers across all measured platforms with CNBC’s TV, web and mobile properties ranking No. 1 or No. 2 among all measured media, according to research released Monday by Lieberman Research.
The study reveals that four out of five financial advisors take actions based on content that they’ve seen on CNBC.
“This study provides a deeper insight into the behaviors, personalities and work styles of financial advisors and the most effective means to reach this influential group,” said Tom O’Brien, CNBC’s chief revenue officer, in a statement. “It also further demonstrates that financial advisors are highly engaged with CNBC and rely on its multiple platforms for business and financial information.”
The study identified four segments of financial advisors, each with their own attitudes and needs: aggressive and ambitious Hustling Hotshots; relationship-oriented Portfolio Pals; analytical Spreadsheet Surfers; and established and content Grey Lions.
The study provided a view into the business approach of each of these four segments and profiled their media consumption habits.
Baltimore Biz Journal launches blog/newsletter on real estate
by Chris Roush
Joanna Sullivan, the editor of the Baltimore Business Journal, writes about how the weekly business newspaper is starting a blog and a daily e-mail newsletter devoted to commercial real estate.
Sullivan writes, “That’s the reason the Baltimore Business Journal has always focused heavily on commercial real estate online and in print. It’s been our top beat — journalism lingo for the industry a reporter covers — since the Business Journal set up shop at 117 Water St. back in 1983.
“Like many businesses around town, we’ve moved since then. We’re now in one of Pratt Street’s hottest addresses — 1 E. Pratt St. It’s soon going to be the headquarters of PNC Bank’s local operations, bringing much-needed heft to this part of downtown.
“We broke that story about PNC, just one of hundreds of real estate stories we’ve broken over the years. And we’re not stopping there.
“But now we’re getting ready to take this beat well into the 21st century with the launch of our new free BBJ RE blog and daily newsletter. We’re branding all of our real estate products under the BBJ RE name. We look forward to many BBJ RE stories in print and online. And don’t miss our BBJ RE Broker Bash we have planned in the spring.
“The BBJ RE daily newsletter will make sure our loyal readers aren’t missing out on the important real estate news and market intelligence we’ve made our name on.”
Read more here.
Bloomberg TV hires executive producer
by Chris Roush
ABC News producer Courtney Chapman was named executive producer of special events for Bloomberg TV, according to Merrill Knox of TVNewser.
Knox writes, “”At ABC News, Chapman was the coordinating producer of content development for digital media, managing digital coverage of the 2010 midterm election and the royal wedding in the UK. In her new role, she will be responsible for Bloomberg TV coverage of both live and planned major events.
Andrew Morse, Bloomberg’s head of U.S. television, joined the business network from ABC News in June. Earlier this month, Morse also brought on former ABCer Wendy Brundige as the network’s West Coast bureau chief.
“In a statement, Bloomberg TV said the goal of Chapman’s role is ‘to deliver more in-depth special reports to our viewers.’ The network produced several specials this summer and has another, called ‘EU Breakthrough,’ scheduled for 7 p.m.ET tonight.”
Read more here.
A biz editor getting into the Halloween spirit
by Chris Roush
Business editor Don Worthington of the Rock Hill Herald is getting into the Halloween spirit at Carowinds, an amusement park between Rock Hill, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C.
His column about why he dressed up at the park will run on Oct. 31.
A focus on digital delivery
by Chris Roush
Suzanne Bearne of New Media Age interviewed Alan Murray, who oversees The Wall Street Journal‘s online growth, including its expansion of video shows on its website.
Here is an excerpt:
Last month you launched WSJ Live (an interactive video app for the iPad, internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes), why is video such an interesting area and how has the take up been?
We’ve been building up live videos for about two years, up to the point where there’s several hours [of video] on the site everyday. We decided about a year ago, after the iPad came out, that it’s clearly a great format to watch video on. We decided on a video-only app. It’s becoming clear that TV and internet are about to collide.
Also, IPTV services were starting to grow very rapidly so we decided to design something for the iPad, which would also work for most IPTV platforms.
We had over 100,000 downloads [of WSJ Live] in the first three weeks. For a while it ranked as a leading news app. One of the things that’s interesting is that [visits to] our sites generally go down on weekends, but we’ve seen visits to the Live app go up on weekends.
What are are you focusing on within digital?
Our plans for growing our digital business over the coming years really rest on four prongs – video, mobile, social and local.
What’s unique about WSJ Live is that you’ve got live and on-demand content. Most of our traffic will be on demand but live pieces make it an interesting and unique offering. We’re going to keep pushing to expand that and are launching live shows in Europe and Asia in the coming months.
Read more here.
International Business Times seeks ME
by Chris Roush
The International Business Times, an online news publication based in New York, seeks a managing editor to oversee the production of the editorial division, writes executive editor Johnathan Davis.
The managing editor must have strong proofreading skills, outstanding news acumen, a digital media mentality, and drive. IBTimes issues a variety of online content, including IBTimes.com, IBTimes Fx (Forex Trading News), and IBTimesTV.
The managing editor will help the executive editor manage the production of IBTimes’ editorial team. The managing editor will work with the executive editor to guide a team of reporters and editors.
According to Davis, the managing editor must have previous success generating a consistent flow of strong news analysis and feature story ideas, build a stable team of dependable freelancers, organize staff and freelance journalist assignments, write persuasive SMO and SEO-friendly headlines and summaries, produce e-newsletters, and work well under deadline pressure.
The managing editor also must be able to manage the incorporation of videos, graphics, and photos with text and must have been a managing editor or editor-in-chief at a major online news publication.
For more information, contact Davis at j.davis@ibtimes.com.
Utah biz media ignoring Overstock’s issues
by Chris Roush
Financial journalist Gary Weiss writes that the business media in Utah are ignoring the financial problems of Overstock.com, which is about to default on its loan covenants.
“In the unlikely event that word ekes out into the press on any of this, or the default threat, you can be sure that it will be written with an overt pro-Overstock bias.
“In other words, one of the largest and most interesting companies in Utah just isn’t covered at all, except when it issues a press release. If that isn’t a ‘captured media,’ to use one of Byrne’s favorite phrases, I don’t know what is.”
Read more here.