Talking Biz News

Information about business
journalism from the
Carolina Business News Initiative.

The Wall St. Cheat Sheet notes that CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer’s recommendation to his viewers to buy Best Buy stock is now blowing up in his face.

The Cheat Sheet notes, “On last week’s Mad Money, game show host Jim Cramer told his acolytes ‘to pick up [Best Buy] BBY before Tuesday morning’s announcement.’ First, trading stocks ahead of earnings is the riskiest aspect of trading. Most professional traders close their positions ahead of earnings and decide what to do after the announcement. The reason for this risk management strategy: guessing earnings is a complete gamble.

“Enter our circus show friend Jim Cramer. While Jim is busy telling people he’s trying to make them better investors, here he is (again) giving investment advice to use the riskiest tactic in trading. Well, I am sad to say Jim’s ESP was dim, and those who started buying BBY into earnings are now getting slammed. The company missed expectations for margins, and the stock is trading down almost 7% as I write.

“As Jim says in his Stock-Picking Rules to Live By, ‘Just because someone says it on TV doesn’t make it so.’”

Read more here.

A Web publishing company announced that it has started a site to cover technology news in the District of Columbia region.

The site is called DCTechSource.com, and its owner, ETC Media Holdings, says it is filling a void left by other publications in the region.

The site currently features profiles of companies, executives and local events. DCTechSource.com has been conducting a ’soft launch’ beta period since the beginning of November 2009. The site is now expanding its content with new features, blog posts, and event and job listings.

“Technology is a vibrant and growing market in the D.C. region. Yet it is largely ignored by many of the area’s ‘leading’ publications, which have made little effort or investment to provide in-depth coverage of local business issues facing technology companies,” said publisher Chris Foss in a statement. “We created DCTechSource.com with the goal of providing a one-stop destination for all of the technology news that other publications are choosing to ignore or do not have the resources to cover.”

Read more here.

Here is the e-mail announcement that CNBC senior vice president Jeremy Pink sent out to the staff on Monday:

“I am pleased to announce that Tyler Mathisen will become an anchor on ‘Power Lunch’ and be promoted to Vice President for Strategic Editorial Initiatives. In this role, Tyler will work closely with Business Development and Marketing to lead editorial input on CNBC’s strategic initiatives and alliances as we extend the CNBC brand outside of the core TV platform. Tyler will play a critical editorial role as CNBC continues to evolve and deliver business news, information and analysis in real-time to our viewers and users where and when they want it. This new role is a natural next step from Tyler’s role as Managing Editor where, in addition to overseeing our daily content and coverage, he was responsible for our long-term editorial strategy. Tyler will also continue to represent CNBC at major events, conferences and symposiums around the world.

“I’d like to congratulate Tyler on this well-deserved promotion. His keen insight and steady hand were never more evident than in the last year as CNBC cemented its status as First in Business Worldwide during our extensive coverage of the financial crisis.

“I am also pleased to announce the appointment of Nik Deogun to Managing Editor for Business Day programming reporting to me. Deogun comes to CNBC from The Wall Street Journal, where he was the Deputy Managing Editor, a position he has held since July 2008. Deogun oversaw all financial coverage for the news organization and directed the Journal’s international network of bureaus and correspondents. Prior to this, Deogun was editor of the Money & Investing section, where he oversaw coverage of Wall Street, banking, hedge funds, private equity, mutual funds, financial markets, investing and personal finance. From March 2004, Deogun was Deputy Chief of the Journal’s Washington bureau. In this role, he focused on overseeing business and regulatory coverage in addition to shepherding investigative projects.

“Deogun joined The Wall Street Journal as a reporter in Atlanta in 1994 and moved to the New York bureau in June 1999 where he covered mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance for the paper’s Money & Investing section. Deogun later spent three years as editor of the Media & Marketing section where he oversaw coverage of entertainment, publishing, advertising, consumer products, fashion, retail and other industries.

“Nik grew up in Calcutta, India and attended the Doon School in India. He earned a bachelor’s degree and graduated summa cum laude from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. He then received a master’s degree from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. He is married and has two children.

“I am thrilled CNBC will benefit from Nik joining the team. Nik’s extensive experience covering Wall Street, investing and international news stories makes him uniquely qualified for this critical role in our organization. He will join CNBC in February 2010.

“Please join me in congratulating Tyler again on his promotion and welcoming Nik as the newest member of our great leadership team.”

Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson sent out the following announcement to the staff on Monday:

“I am delighted to announce that Rebecca Blumenstein will be joining the troika as International Editor of The Wall Street Journal and Deputy Managing Editor, replacing the esteemed Nik Deogun, who is leaving the paper to pursue opportunities in the land of wonder that is television.

“Rebecca has done outstanding work at WSJ.com this year and her role overseeing our correspondents will allow her to continue the important phase of integration she has begun at dotcom. Before taking the role at online, she was International News Editor and China Editor, so she is well aware of the challenges of life as a correspondent and acutely conscious of our digital potential, which she will continue to realize with her customary vigor and creativity.

“There is no doubt that the Journal now has by far the most comprehensive international coverage and that is a tribute to the efforts of Nik, Rebecca, Adam, Dagmar and the team. Rebecca will also inherit the leadership of our financial coverage, steered by Ken Brown’s excellent Money and Investing team, which provides peerless reporting and editing on a subject of crucial importance to our readers.

“I would like to thank Nik for his long service and distinguished contribution to the Journal, and wish him well, personally, in his future pursuits.”

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Nik Deogun, a deputy managing editor at The Wall Street Journal, is leaving the paper to become managing editor of CNBC .

When reached by Talking Biz News, Deogun declined to comment, as did CNBC spokesman Brian Steel. But an announcement is expected soon.

CNBC has hired former Journal staffers in the past, including chief economics correspondent Steve Liesman and Charles Gasparino.

Deogun is deputy managing editor, international, a position he has held since July 2008. He oversees the paper’s global network of bureaus and correspondents.

Previously, he was the editor of the Money & Investing section since March 2007. He was responsible for coverage of Wall Street, banking, hedge funds, private equity, mutual funds, financial markets, investing and personal finance.

Deogun was deputy chief, beginning in March 2004, of the paper’s Washington bureau. In this post, Deogun’s focus was on overseeing business and regulatory coverage in addition to shepherding special projects. He also helped manage the bureau’s day-to-day operations.

In August 1994, Deogun joined The Journal as a reporter for Southeast Journal, worked on the section’s October 1994 launch and wrote the “Heard in the Southeast” column and regional stories. He became a reporter in the news bureau in Atlanta in July 1995, covering the banking industry, and later covered beverages and consumer products in addition to regional news.

He transferred to the New York news bureau as a reporter in June 1999 and covered mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance for the paper’s Money & Investing section.

Deogun was named Media and Marketing Editor in November 2001. In that post, he oversaw a team of reporters and editors covering entertainment, publishing, advertising, consumer products, fashion, retail and other industries.

Previously, Deogun spent a year as a reporter for the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Richard Dixon has been named as the new publisher at the Fort Worth Business Press, and a sister publication, the Collin County Business Press, according to a story in the Fort Worth paper.

Robert Francis writes, “Dixon, previously vice president of advertising at the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, will begin his new position immediately.

“‘I am motivated and energized to be the new publisher for the Fort Worth Business Press and Collin County Business Press,’ he said. ‘I look forward to strengthening and growing new relationships. The Fort Worth and Collin County markets have a solid foundation and we are committed to enhancing the presence of these two brands.’

“Dixon has a bachelor’s degree in business from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He was previously advertising manager at The Shreveport Times, before joining the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report as advertising director.”

Read more here.

Alan Webber, one of the co-founders of Fast Company magazine, writes on Folio Monday that the remaining business magazines need to reinvent themselves for readers rather than just trying to survive.

Webber writes, “They want authenticity, integrity, and real dialog — and instead they feel they’ve been getting a steady diet of status-quo thinking, round-up-the-usual-suspects journalism, and convenient excuses for why things can’t change.

“The exciting truth is we are at the threshold of a new era in business. All over the world we’re witnessing massive discontinuities in how work gets done, who does it, how value is created, where it gets created — one epoch is ending, another is just being born. What business magazines need to do is to embrace the changes and challenges that are rocking the world of business — get in front of the evolving story line; engage readers in a conversation; challenge the status quo instead of offering bland reassurances that the status quo will prevail; generate useful, provocative debate; discover new voices who champion new ideas and unconventional practices.

“It’s not just a matter of finding a way to stay in business; it’s a matter of having a purpose for being in business in the first place. Entrepreneurship is the answer to the companies business magazines cover; it’s also the answer to the future of the magazines themselves.”

Read more here.

National Public Radio ombudsman Alicia Shepard investigated the sponsorships by a financial services company of NPR’s “Planet Money” blog and show.

Shepard writes, “Ally’s relationship with NPR is a new one in an era when NPR, like other news organizations, is finding it necessary to search for new revenue streams. At NPR, sponsor credits typically run at a segment’s end on a radio show, with two or more credits lumped together.

“But in Ally’s case, the credit always comes right after a Planet Money story on Morning Edition or All Things Considered or at the beginning of a Planet Money podcast. Each Ally Bank credit thus stands out because it is the only one listeners hear at that point.

“NPR calls this arrangement a ’special series adjacency.’ It’s been more commonly used with Story Corps., Hidden Kitchens, This I Believe and Radio Expeditions, said Blake Truitt, senior v.p., corporate sponsorship. ‘Planet Money is a special series, and Ally Bank is the sponsor of that series so they get an announcement adjacent to that story,’ said Truitt.

“Ally’s exclusive contract initially ran from May to December, but the bank re-upped and will be sponsoring Planet Money through December 2010.”

Read more here.

Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson issued the following statement to the paper’s staff in response to the column in the New York Times on Monday by David Carr:

Thomson stated:”The news column by a Mr David Carr today is yet more evidence that The New York Times is uncomfortable about the rise of an increasingly successful rival while its own circulation and credibility are in retreat. The usual practice of quoting ex-employees was supplemented by a succession of anonymous quotes and unsubstantiated assertions.

“The attack follows the extraordinary actions of Mr Bill Keller, the Executive Editor, who, among other things, last year wrote personally and at length to a prize committee casting aspersions on Journal journalists and journalism. Whether it be in the quest for prizes or in the disparagement of competitors, principle is but a bystander at The New York Times.”

Lucia Moses of AdWeek writes that Wired magazine deserves to be the magazine of the decade for a number of reasons.

Moses writes, “Launched amid the tech bubble, Wired could have easily gone the way of rivals like Red Herring or The Industry Standard that rode the Web 1.0 wave but imploded when the dot-com bomb went off in 2000.

“Under the aegis of deep-pocketed Condé Nast and visionary editor Chris ‘Long Tail’ Anderson, Wired survived the storm by capturing a broader readership with an editorial mix spanning technology, business, science, entertainment and culture — in essence becoming the chronicler of the technology surge that’s changed all our lives this decade.

“Recent features included a mystery issue guest-edited by J.J. Abrams and some very bad advice from Inglourious Basterd Brad Pitt. In a recent publicity stunt, Wired offered a $5,000 reward to readers who could find one of its contributing writers using digital clues. Wired is also one of the few print magazines to successfully adapt to the Web, and is a testbed for the company’s efforts to recast its glossy monthlies to future e-readers.”

Read more here.