Is Financial Media Aiding Wall Street Collapse?

MarketWatch columnist Jon Friedman (left) has a provocative column today on the role of financial media in the continuing Wall Street crisis (the Dow is down over 330 points in early trading despite the government’s $85 bailout of AIG). Where is the skepticism and outrage at Wall Street titans that journalists direct to other news makers, asks Friedman. It is not about being disrespectful, it is about being tough and expressing the same frustration and hurt that “ordinary” citizens feel (especially when they are being extricated from the jobs by the thousands and billions in retirement income is being wiped out). See Media’s Wimpy Wall Street Coverage.

MarketWatch also extensively reports that a money market fund “breaks the buck” - a frightening development that indicates a wider, deeper impact of the credit crisis on “safe” investments favored by conservative retail investors. 

MarketWatch is an excellent source of financial news that goes deeper than mass outlets such as The New York Times or even Wall Street Journal (MarketWatch is a Dow Jones property). As the name implies, MarketWatch is focused entirely on market moving news and is sort of the people’s Bloomberg, geared to retail investors and traders. Jon Friedman consistently writes incisive columns that de-mystify financial news. He has strong opinions and backs them up with the flair of a tabloid reporter.

Floyd Norris at NYTimes gets a little wild on his blog today with Socialism, 21st Century Style, arguing that the government takeover of AIG is akin to nationalization of the largest insurer in the U.S. (Didn’t Harry Truman fail when he tried to do this with the steel industry?). The business news these days is scary but this is what financial reporters live for.