Can CNBC be reformed?

by: AdamGreen

Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 14:31

We all saw Jon Stewart make the case against CNBC -- showing how they served as a PR machine for Wall Street instead of holding Wall Street accountable.

I've also made this case before -- calling out Erin Burnett's often-absurd analysis.

So, here's a question. Is it possible to reform CNBC? Can we turn them into a force for Wall Street accountability?

Today, a crew of economists, journalists, and progressive leaders took action in that direction -- launching an "Open Letter to CNBC" and inviting the public to sign.

Americans need CNBC to do strong, watchdog journalism - asking tough questions to Wall Street, debunking lies, and reporting the truth...
CNBC should publicly declare that its new overriding mission will be responsible journalism that holds Wall Street accountable.

I helped put this effort together over the weekend, and was pleasantly surprised that so many respected people in the economic and journalism communities thought reforming CNBC was possible--and were willing to add their names to the cause.

If the public agrees, and 5,000 people sign the open letter, it will be delivered to CNBC's headquarters...always a fun spectacle.

Anyway, what do you think? Does Jon Stewart's intellectual case plus people-powered activism make reform of CNBC possible?

(The full letter is posted at www.FixCNBC.com.)

AdamGreen :: Can CNBC be reformed?

Tags: progressive change campaign committee, PCCC, Dean Baker, economics, jim cramer, Jon Stewart, CNBC, fixcnbc.com, (All Tags)

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Can CNBC be reformed? | 15 comments

sure it's possible (4.00 / 1)

He ended CNN's Crossfire.

By the way, whatever happened to Fox Business Channel? I remember they launched it openly saying they would be more positive for business than CNBC! I can't imagine that has worked out well.

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

by: Hopeful in NJ @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 18:37:59 PM UTC

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I don't think there will be serious reform (0.00 / 0)

unless we get new faces in the leadership positions of Washington and wall street. That isn't happening in Washington which is suppose to be accountable to the people, so how can it happen on wall street which is unaccountable by design?

The system is broke! It isn't out of kilter. It is broke down.

I wish Americans would get some backbone like the icelanders!

My blog

by: Dameocrat @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 18:44:49 PM UTC

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News (4.00 / 2)

I read somewhere that CNBC is not a part of the NBC News division like MSMBC is, so they don't even have to pretend to be journalists. Looking up the Wiki I see this:

Partnerships
Dow Jones & Company
Since December 1997, the network has held a strategic alliance with the publishing and financial information firm Dow Jones & Company. Under the agreement, CNBC has extensive access to the journalism of such outlets as MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and Barron's, with their reporters and editorial staff making frequent appearances on the channel. Some former CNBC programs have included Dow Jones branding, while the network currently produces and syndicates the weekly Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo. CNBC's current deal with Dow Jones expires in 2012, and its continuation has been the subject of some uncertainty following the 2007 acquisition of Dow by News Corporation, parent company of rival financial network Fox Business (which spun off from Fox News). News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch has stated that the current agreement "covers actual news and access to reporters on business news" only, and that Fox and Dow Jones are free to cooperate on other issues.

That seems to be interesting on multiple levels. At first I thought this would be a problem, but reading on and seeing the Murdoch angle, perhaps it is possible to change them.

by: Mark Matson @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 18:52:37 PM UTC

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"Journalism" is broken (4.00 / 2)

Journalism as a whole is broken with "business" coverage being among the worst offenders. Over the years business sections have expanded in size but much of the old coverage about contracts, new products, promotions and hires has been replaced by ceaseless coverage of the stock market. That coverage is not being driven by need so much as by advertisers (brokers, mutual funds, pension funds).

Journalism is broken in politics. It is broken in local news. And the dependence on advertisers and celebrity columnists is meaning that an increasing number of papers are broken financially.

Ironically, newspapers are not doing the original reporting and investigation that might keep them in business. Tell me why as a resident of north Jersey I should buy the Newark Star Ledger or the Daily Record? What do they cover that the NY Times web site does not have for free? A few local stories. Some nastiness towards local politicians. High school sports.

by: David Kowalski @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 18:58:20 PM UTC

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Did it ever work? (4.00 / 1)

My only counterargument is "broken" implies it once worked properly in the past. Of this, I'm not convinced.

by: Mark Matson @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 19:14:44 PM UTC

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I think it worked (0.00 / 0)

during the 1960's and 1970's.

by: NFR83 @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 19:40:11 PM UTC

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Hard to know (4.00 / 1)

There was such a complete monopoly on information by such a small number of news sources I tend to suspect there was only an appearance of the system working.

by: Mark Matson @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 19:49:47 PM UTC

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Since the dawn of the "Mass" age, (0.00 / 0)

the Press has been nothing more than an agent of the Corporat State, catapulting Corporat/State propaganda at the people.

Jacques Ellul, the French sociologist, explained that in the modern industrial (as well as in the post-industrial formation of the) State, 'propaganda' was the ONLY way by which the State could communicate with its constituents.

You/we should NEVER expect unrestrained honesty from any Corporate or State utterance. Never. It is ALL "spun." Every fucking word. The State cannot dispense truth without offending some part of its legitimacy-producing 'consent.' Ergo, it ALWAYS lies...

The phrase "the manufacture of consent" was coined in the teens of the l;ast century by Freud's favorite nephew and the "father" of public relations, Edouard Bernays...

In the Corporate State, "corporate" media are STATE MEDIA.

by: konopelli @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 22:01:11 PM UTC

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Reform it all.... (0.00 / 0)

or just leave it the way it is and pick your poison.

the fact is to reform CNBC you have to reform MSNBC who are clearly just as one sided...you would have to reform FOX who leans to the right and CNN who leans to the left....and so on.

Or, you could just let people watch what they feel like watching as long as there are choices out there to make. Maybe, just maybe, there are some things we should just not try to control...like freedom of speech and expresssion.

by: rmoltaban @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 19:26:03 PM UTC

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CNN leans to the left? (0.00 / 0)

what?

by: The Big Hurt @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 19:33:40 PM UTC

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Sorry... (0.00 / 0)

floats around the middle

by: rmoltaban @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 19:36:58 PM UTC

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Love it (0.00 / 0)

I signed

by: Semblance @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 19:41:21 PM UTC

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CNBC Covers Its Beat Like Your Home-town Paper (4.00 / 1)

covers the local high-school sprots teams: with a mixture of cheerleading, local boosterism, hype and shill.

This is but a microcosm of the relations between the whole panoply of SCUM (SoCalledUnbiasedMedia), however...

It began with the consolidations of the Raygun era. Now the CorpoRats have just about finished off the '4th Estate,' and so they'll be cut loose, to function as shoppers in their locales...

by: konopelli @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 20:50:29 PM UTC

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Yes (0.00 / 0)

great work Adam. Posted it on Minnesota's local progressive blog if you want to keep track of coverage and will be spreading the word.

John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power

by: Populista @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 22:11:54 PM UTC

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yes, it can be reformed (4.00 / 1)

force GE to spin off all its media properties, and use the money to repay its TARP money.

Freed of its GE overlords, NBC and the cable properties could go back to being news organizations.

by: AliceDem @ Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 22:32:16 PM UTC

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Can CNBC be reformed? | 15 comments