Talking Biz News

Information about business
journalism from the
Carolina Business News Initiative.

TheDeal.com executive editor Yvette Kantrow writes Friday about all of the end-of-the-year business magazines coming out with lists of the top CEOs and leaders.

Kantrow wrote, “The parade began with Corporate Leader’s debut issue last month, which gave us ‘The Best CEOs in America’; was followed by ranking-obsessed Fortune’s ‘Power 25 List’; and included the newly list-happy U.S. News & World Report’s ‘America’s Best Leaders.’ Wading through all these random rankings — accompanied by breathless profiles and overly serious explanations of bogus methodologies — left us yearning for last year’s version of Fortune’s Power List, when the magazine wisely ‘decided to eliminate rankings’ and provide instead photo portraits of 25 big machers, unencumbered by any hype-infected text.

“Indeed, this is the first time in a while that Fortune produced a traditional ranking for its Power List, having taken a strange detour in 2005 to publish ‘25 People We Envy Most’ in its place. As ridiculous as that list was — and with names like Sean Hannity, Burt Rutan (who?) and Jake Burton (who again?), it was pretty ridiculous — Fortune’s impulse to eschew a traditional ranking of the powerful was a good one.

“Just take a look at its 2004 offering to see why. Coming in at No. 7 was recently deposed Citigroup Inc. CEO Chuck Prince, who was lauded for showing ‘great skill running the world’s largest financial services company.’ Ousted Merrill Lynch & Co. chief Stan O’Neal came in at No. 20 and was hailed as a ‘visionary.’ Of course, their departures don’t negate the fact that these two wielded power back in 2004, when they headed major institutions. But their current situations show what an amorphous concept power can be.”

Read more here.

Business news cable network CNBC said Friday that its November total viewers were the best for the month in the past seven years.

In a release, CNBC stated, “For November 2007, CNBC was up 42% in total viewers (286,000) in Business Day (5 AM-7 PM ET) compared with last November (201,000) and, again, the best month overall since August 2002.

“CNBC was also up 22% compared with November 2006 for Business Day programming in the critical adults 25-54 demographic. It was CNBC’s best November in the adults 25-54 demo since November 2003.

“During market hours (9:30 AM-4:00 PM) for November, CNBC was also up 22% versus last November in the key adults 25-54 demo with its best November since 2003.

“As always, it is important to note that these are only CNBC’s measured ratings. The majority of CNBC’s affluent and well-educated audience isn’t counted by Nielsen because it neither measures out-of-home viewing nor affluent homes.

“All CNBC programs 6 AM to 5 PM had their best November in their time period in total viewers since at least 2001 and in adults 25-54 since 2003, including ‘Squawk Box,’ ‘Squawk on the Street,’ ‘The Call,’ ‘Power Lunch,’ ‘Street Signs’ and ‘Closing Bell.’”

Read more here.

The New York Post’s Keith Kelly also reports that Smart Money editor Fleming Meeks is returning to Barron’s.

Kelly wrote, “Meeks had been a top editor at Barron’s when he was dispatched to be the editor of Smart Money.

“But then four years ago Jonathan Dahl was brought in as Smart Money’s editor- in-chief above Meeks. Many had expected Meeks to exit at that time, but he stayed in place.

“One source said he always chaffed under Dahl’s rule.

“Meeks could not be reached, but Dahl insisted, ‘No, that’s not true at all.’

“Dahl said that Meeks was going back to head up a new electronic newsletter division at Barron’s, which is owned by Dow Jones, the media company being acquired by News Corp., publisher of The Post.”

Read more here.

Keith Kelly of The New York Post reports Friday that Forbes has sold its Colorado ranch and has found a buyer for its lower Manhattan headquarters as it pares its assets to focus on its publishing operations.

Kelly wrote, “It’s the largest ranch in the state and traces it roots to the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant of 1843. Malcolm Forbes, the late patriarch of the current generation of Forbes family members who run the company, took over the ranch in 1969.

“Insiders say the family has also found a buyer for its Greenwich Village headquarters.

“Our source said that the buyer is a developer who will allow Forbes Media LLC to stay put as a renter for two years while it searches for a new headquarters.

“Calls to Forbes Media officials and to Cushman & Wakefield real estate broker Scott Latham were not returned.”

Read more here. 

Marketwatch media columnist Jon Friedman writes Friday that Trader Monthly succeeds because it pleases its Wall Street readers.

Friedman wrote, “For example, a story on the cover of Private Air’s October/November issue proclaimed: ‘Make Your $20 million Jet Pay for Itself.’ While it might not win a Loeb award for excellence in journalism any time soon, Doubledown’s editorial content is generally strong.

“Doubledown has broken through the widespread gloom in publishing by following the No. 1 rule in any venture: Please the hell out of your audience. It devotes itself primarily to the young Wall Street crowd (which, for our purposes, can be defined as either anyone younger than, say, 37, or someone who doesn’t yet own summer AND winter homes).

“‘We reach a niche audience, a highly targeted, highly desired group,’ Randall Lane, the president of Doubledown, told me. ‘We’re a company that focuses on profitable communities, and we deliver quality media to service them. Traders are a classic community.’”

Read more here.

Lisa Bormaster, publisher of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, has been named publisher of the Dallas Business Journal, according to a short story in Thursday’s paper.  

Both papers are published by Charlotte, N.C.-based American City Business Journals, the largest publisher of weekly business journals in the country.

The story stated, “Bormaster also will oversee the New Mexico Business Weekly in Albuquerque.

“She has led the Business Journal in Minneapolis for a decade. Prior to that, she spent three years as publisher of the Austin (Texas) Business Journal, and as advertising director at the Washington (D.C.) Business Journal, both ACBJ papers.

“Bormaster will commute between Dallas, Albuquerque and Minneapolis until early January, when she moves to Dallas. ACBJ Chairman Ray Shaw said he expects to name a new publisher in Minneapolis soon.”

Read more here.

John McAuley, the senior economics writer at Dow Jones Newswires, died Wednesday at the age of 60 from cardiac arrest shortly after making an appearance on the Fox Business Network to discuss a recent column.

Eduardo Kaplan of Dow Jones Newswires wrote, “That Big Picture column, one of the hundreds John wrote since he joined Dow Jones Newswires in 2000, exemplified his talent to provide original insights on all matters pertaining to the economy in a clear and often witty manner.  Writing about the current debate on growing inflationary pressures, John started a recent column: ‘The inflation news for October was mostly good, particularly if you don’t drive or eat.’ 

“John had an unfettered curiosity about the economy, a passion he generously shared in the newsroom with every reporter and editor. He was constantly seeking new ways to understand the complex forces that shape the economy and worked surrounded by towering piles of economic data that only he could identify.  Like most financial journalists on the beat, John liked to talk to Wall Street economists. Like few of them, he would also reach out to truck drivers and port inspectors, grocery clerks, government statisticians and chief executive officers.

“He rarely stopped thinking about the subject that fascinated him.  Dave Greenlaw, an economist at Morgan Stanley in New York and a frequent voice in John’s columns, recalls him as a ‘wonderful, wonderful man.’ Late last year while visiting his family in Tacoma over the Christmas holidays, John found himself stuck at home during a blackout. He opened his laptop and started writing a column on the disruptions to the economy caused by major accidents as well as minor inconveniences. His conclusion was: ‘It’s dangerous to leave an economist mulling over things in the dark.’”

Read more here. 

The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will award eight scholarships of $4,000 to college juniors or graduate students for their following academic year.

Deadline for applications is Feb. 1, 2008, with scholarships awarded March 15, 2008 for the academic year that commences fall 2008. Scholarships are available to students at universities throughout the U.S.

These non-renewable scholarships are for business journalism majors, or journalism majors with a concentration in business journalism, who are seriously interested in pursuing a career in business journalism. In some cases, other students who have gained experience solely through opportunities such as business journalism internships will be considered.

A journalism faculty member must nominate the student.

The Reynolds Center will review qualifications of the candidates before final eight selections are announced. Each student through his or her university will receive $4,000 to be applied to the coming academic year. Students must be enrolled full-time. Financial need is not a criterion.

Read more here.

Hal Morris, writing on his GrumpyEditor.com blog, wants to know how old the people are writing BusinessWeek after unearthing a reference to 1940s movie star Errol Flynn.

Morris wrote, “The section, edited by Harry Maurer and Cristina Lindblad, led off with an item headlined ‘Shocker on the Street’ dealing with selection of a new CEO at Merrill Lynch.  The short opened with, ‘Practically everyone assumed Larry Fink was in like Flynn.’

“In like Flynn?

“Grumpy Editor hasn’t heard that phrase in some time.  Once widely used, now it continues into the 21st century.

“Obviously, that item’s writer has much gray hair — or recently watched the History Channel.

“The ‘in like Flynn’ term made the rounds during World War II.  It came out after a February, 1943 Los Angeles trial in which movies’ swashbuckling action hero, actor Errol Flynn — known for his romantic exploits —was acquitted in a statutory rape case involving a teenage girl.”

Read more here.

Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable writes that “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer has renewed his contract with business news cable network CNBC. Terms were undisclosed.

Guthrie wrote, “Jim Cramer will stay put at CNBC for the foreseeable future. Cramer, the excitable host of Mad Money, signed a multiyear deal with the network.

“‘Jim has played an integral part in CNBC’s rebirth,’ CNBC president Mark Hoffman said. ‘He is not only one of the most respected and successful Wall Street minds, but also happens to be a great entertainer.’”

Read here. Cramer also is a co-founder of TheStreet.com and writes commentary about the stock market on the web site. The official CNBC release can be read here.