Orman in demand due to financial crisis, but some see conflicts
Suzanne Vranica and Stephanie Kang of The Wall Street Journal take a look Friday at the growing popularity of Suze Orman, who has a personal finance show on CNBC, in the wake of the current economic crisis, but note that she has some conflicts of interest by doing advertising. Vranica and Kang write, “Ms. Orman […]
Assessing the performance of business journalism isn't that simple
Dean Starkman, writing for the Columbia Journalism Review, argues that there are many business journalists who have been sounding the alarm about the problems in the housing market and on Wall Street before the economic turmoil, but that assessing the business media’s performance is more complicated than finding the negative stories in archives. Starkman writes, […]
Can Greenspan's wife be objective in covering the economy?
Brian Stelter of the New York Times writes for Monday’s paper about the ethical issues surrounding NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who is married to former Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan and has recently been reporting about the economy. Stelter notes that the Columbia Journalism Review has raised questions about whether Mitchell can be objective in […]
Citizen journalism and the stock market
John Dvorak of Marketwatch assesses citizen journalism in light of the events of last week, when someone posted a false report on iReport.com that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a heart attack, which led to a drop in its stock price. Dvorak writes, “The false-rumor model for stock-market manipulation is nothing new, but since the […]
Where was the financial press?
Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post writes Monday about the role the business media has played in not warning investors and consumers about the current financial and economic crisis. Kurtz writes, “After being burned by years of cheerleading before the dot-com collapse, the media warned repeatedly that the surge in housing prices might turn out […]
Simple skill: Checking facts
Eric Benderoff of the Chicago Tribune believes that citizen journalists posting items about business should check their facts before posting and not be allowed to post unsubstantiated stories like Apple CEO Steve Jobs having a heart attack. Benderoff writes, “I’m not a journalist who believes I have an especially difficult job. But I take my responsibility […]
CNN hands over info to SEC about Jobs heart attack poster
Jessica Mintz of the Associated Press reports that CNN has provided information to the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding a person who posted on its iReport.com site that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a heart attack, causing its stock price to drop. Mintz writes, “CNN spokeswoman Jennifer Martin said the SEC contacted iReport.com Friday afternoon, […]
Apple stock falls after false report that Jobs had heart attack
An unbylined Atlanta Journal-Constiution story reports Friday that Apple’s stock fell after an erroneous report on a CNN site that CEO Steve Jobs had a heart attack. The AJC story stated, “The iReport.com item said Jobs had suffered ‘a major heart attack’ and was rushed to a hospital. It cited an anonymous source. “The report […]
Cramer apologizes for being duped by Wachovia CEO
CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer apologized on his show Monday night for recommending Wachovia stock and for comments made two weeks ago by company CEO Robert Steel, who said everything was fine with the bank, writes Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times. Sorkin writes, “It didn’t help that Mr. Cramer later told […]
Examining Bloomberg's role in the United Airlines bankruptcy snafu
Ryan Chittum of the Columbia Journalism Review takes a look at the role Bloomberg News and its terminal played in distributing the false story two weeks ago that United Airlines was in bankruptcy court protection and how it moved to correct the bad information. Chittum writes, “It’s a bit silly, though, to blame Bloomberg because […]
