Up or Down, PR Drives The Dow

A great feat in public relations is to create a deeply penetrating brand that is accepted broadly and perpetuates unquestioned credibility for its creator.  Is there a better PR brand than the Dow Jones Industrial Average?

We are all obsessed with “The Dow” right now although few of us know what it is or why it is so important. DJIA - The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an index of 30 “Blue Chip” stocks that are supposed to be an indicator of the broader stock market (thousands of stocks). “The Dow” is broadcast across the world, transcending geography, language barriers and market highs and lows. Even rival media companies, such as The New York Times (above, left)  post “The Dow” on its home page. PR doesn’t get better than that.

May 26, 1896 Dow Jones published its first “Industrial” average, DJIA, consisting of 12 stocks closing at 40.94. DJIA is occasionally re-jiggered to reflect our changing economic landscape. Manufacturing companies in DJIA such as U.S. Steel have been replaced by tech companies such as Microsoft. Standard & Poors, Wilshire, and Russell all have stock indexes that are broader, more specific, and, many investment professionals would argue, more accurate indicators of trends in the stock market. But none are more recognized or accepted as DJIA, which has become synonymous with “the market.” That’s a big reason why Rupert Murdoch was obsessed with acquiring Dow Jones and its media properties Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and MarketWatch.

See What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average? from How Stuff Works - includes video on stocks currently in the DJIA.

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.