Tag Archives: Company Coverage
How Apple affects coverage of other tech companies
by Chris Roush
Mat Honan of Gizmodo writes about how Apple’s news conference on Wednesday is affecting coverage of other tech companies.
Honan writes, “How important? Here is an anecdote: A major player in the consumer electronics industry had an event planned on Wednesday morning at the same time as Apple’s announcement. It was a chance for an intimate group of technology journalists to meet with a C-level executive, and to walk away at the end of the meeting with unreleased products to review.
“Journalists love this kind of gathering because, above all else, we are dicks; the chance to hector a top executive at one of the world’s largest companies for not being Apple, in an intimate setting, surrounded by your equally unimpressed peers, and then walk out the door with unreleased products to review is what we love to do.
“Nonetheless, [Redacted] had to reschedule its event due to lack of interest. Too many inky hacks pulled out to cover Apple instead. We, the Press would rather sit in a dark room, unable to ask tough questions or actually touch and test an Apple product, than do our job. We would rather serve as a gateway for Apple’s live action press releases.
“And unless you accuse the media of being biased towards Apple products, you should have figured out by now that none of us even care. Who cares. Nobody cares. We are all so jaded and cynical that if cow shit brought in an audience, we would all be sitting in a pasture, DSLRs in hand, waiting breathlessly for the next patty to fall. Or at least, many of us would.
“We cover what we cover because it’s what you want us to cover. And as long as the audience comes in, we’ll be there to receive you.”
Read more here.
Biz media too compliant with Apple
by Chris Roush
Dan Gillmor, a former tech reporter, writes for The Guardian that the reporters who cover Apple aren’t aggressive enough.
Gillmor writes, “There are, of course, some mitigating factors in journalists’ contribution to this endless charade. Apple is, after all, the most valuable company in the world, one of the most profitable enterprises of all time – largely because it sells technology and software that are world-class and, in several cases, the best, period. And it has enormous influence on popular culture. Moreover, a large segment of the journalism audience seems to devour all news about Apple, even rumors of announcements of upcoming announcements. Online page views of Apple stories are routinely higher than page views for many, if not most other, topics. Paying the bills is part of running a media organization.
“But there’s also a strong element of journalistic laziness, if not worse. Just as covering the horse race is easier for political reporters than digging deep into the issues, lame write-ups about Apple’s latest quarter-turn of the proverbial screw are easier than investigating on Apple’s less-praiseworthy policies and acts. (Here’s some useful journalism relating to the working conditions at Apple’s foreign manufacturers’ plants: an article in Grist, which covers environmental topics, noting that labor costs for iPhones and iPads are a tiny fraction, per unit, of Apple’s overheads. In other words, Apple could still enjoy staggering profit margins even if it required its captive manufacturers to do the right thing.)
“In the 1990s, Microsoft enjoyed much the same kind of treatment from journalists. The run-up to the launch of Windows 95 produced some of the most entertaining hyperbole in media history.”
Read more here.
Stop the CEO porn about Buffett
by Chris Roush
Gary Weiss writes for TheStreet.com about how the business news media is too fawning in its coverage of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
Weiss writes, “Welcome to CEO porn season, Berkshire Hathaway edition. ‘CEO porn’ is inside-baseball journalism terminology that I would define as ‘overemphasis on the (ghost-written) writings and overhyped achievements of chief executive officers, with negative or contrary elements given little or no attention.’ I respect Buffett as much as the next journo. I’ve met him and found him charming and likable. I’ve been a customer of his insurance and (until recently) candy subsidiaries for decades.
“But enough already! The Warren Buffett CEO Porn epidemic is getting out of hand. I beg my colleagues in the media: Make it stop.
“This year, the fascination with every word emanating from Buffett is even more embarrassingly lavish than usual, and the reason is not that Buffett has been especially prescient or skillful in the preceding year. In fact, as I’ll be coming to in a moment, one of the pronouncements in his shareholder letter was downright goofy. The cause of the media’s hyperfocus has been totally predictable: An 81-year-old CEO may be handing over the reins of Berkshire Hathaway any time now.
“The hand-wringing over this in the media has been remarkable. It’s as if the media were suffering from a kind of premature separation anxiety. What makes it ludicrous is the fact that his deputy, Charlie Munger, is old enough to be a World War II veteran, which he is. Compounding the absurdity is that Buffett, utilizing a false-suspense trick straight out of vaudeville-era press agentry, has said the Berkshire board has picked his successor, but that his lips are sealed.”
Read more here.
Business journalism’s big impact
by Chris Roush
Benjamin Marrison, the editor of the Columbus Dispatch, writes Sunday about how stories by business reporter Dan Gearino forced the Ohio public utilities commission to reverse a rate hike decision for an energy company.
Marrison writes, “Not long after the reversal, this email arrived from restaurateur Elizabeth Lessner:
“‘Dear Dan, Without your reporting, we never could have gotten to today’s PUCO decision. Small business thanks you and The Dispatch for helping our voices be heard and allowing us to survive in challenging times.’
“Numerous Statehouse sources called after the decision, both to applaud Gearino’s precision reporting and to question a statement attributed to the head of the PUCO, Dan Snichtler.
“Did Snichtler really say that he was unaware of concerns expressed by his staff that the proposed rate hike would shock the pocketbooks of small businesses? How could that be, they asked? It made no sense, they said, given that his staff sent emails warning the PUCO of the likely consequences — concerns published on Page One of The Dispatch on Dec. 4.”
Read more here.
Apple favoring WSJ over NYT
by Chris Roush
Erik Wemple of the Washington Post writes about how The Wall Street Journal scored an exclusive interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook while the tech company shuts out rival business journalists at The New York Times.
Wemple writes, “Says a source at the Times: ‘They are playing access journalism…I’ve heard it from people inside Apple: They said, look, you guys are going to get less access based on the iEconomy series.’
“The on-the-record word from the New York Times differs only slightly from the not-for-attribution word: ‘We’re never happy with our access to Apple. We never have been. Apple is a difficult company to report on,’ says Damon Darlin, the paper’s tech editor. When asked how big a deal is the Journal’s exclusive with Cook, Darlin responds: ‘Talking to the CEO of one of the largest technology companies, the highest-valued company of the world? Yes, we would like to do that. They know that.’
“Says Larry Ingrassia, the editor who has supervised the iEconomy series: ‘We talk to them all the time. If you want to put more detail on who they talk to and about what and who they give interviews to and why, it’s best to talk to Apple.’ Done! But Apple hasn’t responded to requests for comment on this matter.
“This afternoon, New York Times tech reviewer David Pogue posted a review of the new stuff. It’s a solid piece of work. But it carries no quotes from a guy trying to wax visionary like his predecessor. And it hit the web late.”
Read more here.
Goldman Sachs PR and the business journalist
by Chris Roush
Gary Silverman of the Financial Times writes about the retirement of Lucas van Praag, the longtime head of public relations at Goldman Sachs, and what this might mean to business journalists who cover the Wall Street bank.
Silverman writes, “It is not unusual for veteran financial reporters in New York to find themselves trading old Lucas war stories. We all seem to have them.
“The perils of the Lucas-era public relations strategy at Goldman grew evident during the financial crisis. If the people at Goldman were as smart as Lucas had made them out to be in the boom, it stood to reason that they understood what was going on during the bust. This caused more conspiratorial critics to ask whether Goldman was some sort of bloodsucking undersea creature that fed off disaster.
“Fending off such allegations proved torturous because it pushed Goldman to do things that weren’t in its old PR playbook – like apologising or acknowledging error. The squirming of Lucas grew so public, he became the subject of derisive articles in publications such as New York magazine, which catalogued the ‘most withering rebuttals’ of a man it called ‘cocksure, weary and exasperated at having to explain the simplest of concepts to idiots.’
“The search for a replacement suggests Goldman is looking to turn over a new leaf in its dealings with the public. According to the Financial Times and other news organisations, the bank has been considering a former US Treasury aide, Jake Siewert. If he signs on, it will represent the latest example of a trend on Wall Street to replace old-style PR advisers of the Lucas sort – many of them professional raconteurs, with a variety of real-life experiences – with recruits drawn from government departments in Washington.”
Read more here.
Company blocking biz media from shareholder meeting
by Chris Roush
Becky Yerak of the Chicago Tribune reports that insurance broker Aon Corp. is preventing journalists from attending its shareholder meeting to decide whether to move its headquarters to London.
Yerak writes, “Aon historically allows the media into its annual shareholder meetings in the spring.
“But a spokesman said special shareholder meetings are another matter; media wasn’t allowed, for example, into a special shareholder meeting held to vote on a merger with consulting firm Hewitt.
“Late Friday afternoon Aon was weighing whether to allow reporters to cover the meeting.
“‘While our usual process is not to have meetings such as special shareholder meetings open to the media, in this instance we are revisiting that process. Hope to have more on Monday,’ an Aon spokesman said in an email.
“As shareholder meetings go, this one has the potential to be livelier than most.”
Read more here.
Morgan Stanley CEO asks for off-the-record discussion with biz journalist
by Chris Roush
Dylan Stableford of Yahoo News writes that Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman has asked for an off-the-record meeting with Fox Business Network reporter Charles Gasparino after the business journalist called him out on the air for not talking.
Stableford writes, “‘Gorman, you know, is a good guy, but he won’t go before the cameras,’ Gasparino said. ‘Jamie did. He went before the cameras. We didn’t have to submit questions beforehand. There was no time limit. We spent 25 minutes with him and he answered all sorts of questions.’
“The banking industry, of course, is a staple for the finance news networks in these times of economic distress. And Morgan Stanley, which was recently forced to cut pay for senior executives, has been one of Gasparino’s favorite subjects. (Last fall, after Fox Business published an unflattering story about the firm, Gasparino said a Morgan Stanley publicist accidentally left him a voicemail saying she was “going to kill him one of these days.”)
“Jeanmarie McFadden, Morgan Stanley’s global head of communications, would not confirm or deny the story to Yahoo News, saying she would never comment on conversations the CEO ‘may or may not have had.’ But McFadden pointed out that Gorman ‘very often has meals with reporters who cover him,’ including–at least once–Gasparino. (It may be worth noting that both Dimon and Gorman were spotted Thursday at a CNBC and Financial Times-hosted party in Davos.)”
Read more here.
FT’s parent says 2011 earnings will beat guidance
by Chris Roush
Pearson, the London-based parent of the Financial Times, said Thursday that its financial results for 2011 will be higher than its previous guidance.
Ben Fenton of the Financial Times writes, “It said revenues from digital sources reached about $3bn, while $1bn of sales were generated in emerging markets.
“The key North American education division showed ‘resilience’ that allowed the company to counter the effects of a difficult market, the statement said.
“International education benefited from recent acquisitions in China and Latin America and there was continued growth in the professional education market.
“The company said that the FT group would ‘report good growth despite weak and volatile advertising market conditions.’
“It added: ‘Our digital and subscription-based revenues at both the FT and Mergermarket continued to climb.’”
Read more here.
Why Bloomberg News needs to cover its parent
by Chris Roush
Noting that Michael Bloomberg won’t be listed in its new billionaires list, Ryan Chittum of Columbia Journalism Review writes that Bloomberg News needs to report on its parent the same way other business media report about themselves.
“As I’ve written with The Wall Street Journal and News Corporation, I’d hardly expect a news organization to go out there and launch muckraking investigations of its parent. I said then that ‘What we should expect is that the WSJ, as a comprehensive business paper, will report the news as it develops, disclose its ownership, and display the story appropriately for its readers.’
“The same goes for Bloomberg.
“You can’t just not cover a major company sitting at the heart of a major beat when you’re a comprehensive news service. Nobody’s that special.”
Read more here.