Are we fanning the flames or informing the public? Perhaps we are doing both, but I think that sometimes we make matters worse by writing about a dire situation or making it sound more dire than it is just to grab some attention.In my view, it's fine to have a headline that reads "ABC Bank downgraded by Doui, Cheatum & Howh," yet it may be too provocative to use something like "ABC Bank looks like toast after downgrade, would you risk it?"
Many of our readers have commented lately that we are doing the latter. When we post something edgy, are we promoting debate or just scaring folks?
Its one thing to post "Investors are concerned" and still another to write "Investors can't to the door fast enough."
It seems to me that anyone in a position of leadership or the public eye should be a voice of reason. We should try to write objectively and not sensationalize things.
Unfortunately, the media is often guided by the old adage -- Dog bites man is not a story, man bites dog is.
Sometimes, the news is just bad and simply reporting on it sends chills down investors' spines. This is certainly true when we report that a company's credit rating has been downgraded or it is in jeopardy of going into bankruptcy.
However, I have seen many stories speculating about how bad the stock market might get and this speculation sometimes seems like yelling "Fire!" in a theater.
One thing that politicians and corporate executives often do, especially when partisanship rears its ugly head, is become afraid to speak the truth. They sugarcoat things until it's too late. Last week's presidential address regarding the state of our economy was a year late. A year ago, and even a few months ago, we were hearing everything was just fine from the White House.
I think the best course is to stick to the facts, be objective and leave room for doubt, discussion and debate. Unfortunately, we sometimes let our passions or our need for attention get the best of us. I think I was guilty of this in some of my early stories in my blogging career. Now, I tend to use irony or a cute turn of phrase more. It is often difficult to express your full meaning in a headline and sometimes the brevity loses something.
One of the worst cases of fanning the flames, and the most ironic, is when we actually speculate about speculation in the market. If you have complained about this issue on our site or elsewhere I would be interested in your comments here. How would you grade the following titles from recent stories?
- Chasing Value: WaMu gone, vultures circling for more
- The great leadership disconnect: I bet the farm and you lose
- $700 billion is real money
Alan Greenspan has his supporters and his detractors but one thing he did correctly in all his years as Chairman of the Federal Reserve was speak calmly with a minimum of animation. The same was often true of Colin Powell, at one time our senior ranking military officer and later Secretary of State.
Remember, nervous generals make for nervous troops.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-30-2008 @ 3:19PM
Steven Earl Salmony said...
Why are only the American taxpayers bailing out the whole global economy?
A billion members of the human family exist on resources valued at less than one dollar per day. Africa is suffering from "slow drip" problems. Europe is getting warmer fast. Arctic ice is retreating and the arctic coast of Alaska is eroding.
Where are the new ideas, the financial backing, and the innovations needed to address these problems? There are tens of trillions of dollars in the global human economy. Where has all that money gone?
The front page of the NYTimes tells the family of humanity that we are on the verge of a global economic catastrophe. Are the taxpayers of the American family, acting alone, to become responsible for the problems now presented to the human community by the greed of a small group of rich and powerful people worldwide?
Why are an astonishingly small number of greedy people, holding hundreds of billions of dollars of ill-gotten gains from what are now recognizable as failed business models and Ponzi-like financial schemes, not taking responsibility for their avarice?
Who are the people behind the mess we see splashed across the front pages of newspapers around the world this morning? Perhaps they need to be named, shamed and held to account.
Some greedy people are easy to identify. They are ones who have proclaimed themselves "Masters of the Universe" or Bohemians or the Greedy Boys of Greenwich or the Bilderbergers or members of The Trilateral Commission or the many too many outrageously enriched 'experts' and politicians who say and do anything to enhance wealth and power of themselves and their benefactors.
At least to me, it appears the problems in the global economy we are seeing today are the results of greed having reached its limits or, to put it another way, having "hit the wall" of unsustainability. That is to say, greediness of self-proclaimed Masters of the Universe and their minions has reached the point of greed's unsustainability. The global economy can no longer support the conspicuous, patently unsustainable behavior of a small segment of the family of humanity.
Yes, definitely yes, something new and different needs to be done. Bold action is needed; but, more of the same, old business-as-usual behavior appears insufficient. Limits need to be placed on patently unsustainable behavior. People who are responsible for the mess need to account for their behavior.
The American family is not responsible for the world's economic mess; but at the moment American taxpayers are being held solely accountable. There is something not quite right about such unfair and inequitable circumstances.
Steven Earl Salmony
AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population,
established 2001
http://sustainabilitysoutheast.org/index.php
9-30-2008 @ 3:40PM
David said...
I think that you on to something. The media needs to calm down and just stick to the facts and let this so called crisis cool down a bit and let cooler heads will prevail
9-30-2008 @ 3:44PM
Limoman said...
DITTO..All the hype by TV and Radio to get More to Tune in and then they run 3x as many commericals?
CNBC and NBC are the Worse!
Seems to me?
Before i go buying anything?
> I look at what I'm buying first
> Compare it to others to insure getting the best price
Mr. Paulson
And when your NOT in office after November, we will remember you as your Legacy for handling this, Good, Bad or Indifferently..
And Please, don't Talk on TV anymore.. You need a Spokes Person...You're a Terrible Public Speaker..
Hire CRAMER to do your talking for you..
9-30-2008 @ 4:16PM
Frank Miller said...
These are tough times for our banking institutions. Individual investors should be concerned and starting making moves to protect their money. This basically means either getting out of the market and cutting back on discretionary spending or diversifying by investing some overseas. I personally use offshore bank accounts and they have helped me with diversification and asset protection. If you want to read more on why offshore investing is smarter, feel free to visit my website.
Best,
Frank Miller
http://www.theoffshorebankaccount.com
9-30-2008 @ 4:17PM
Bill Olmsted said...
Lame
9-30-2008 @ 5:33PM
Ed Doan said...
I guess it's human to sensationalize economic news, Sheldon. The stock market gyrations are often the greed and panic of institutional investors reacting to an otherwise benign news release, or government index announcement. It's the nature of the beast.
As for fanning the flames and the public is concerned, maybe it's time. We are so isolated and insulated from the government policies that control/interfere with the financial and business communities that we don't even know what to ask of our Representatives. Furthurmore, until this crisis, a huge majority of the Representatives knew very little about the issues they now try to talk about so knowledgeably.
I totally agree about the donations and lobbyists involvement with the chief players has to change. How do I, John Q Public, stop it? The long process of trying to elect people to fix it won't work, but total public outrage seems to be having an affect on them. The fanning of the flames woke us up, and that's a good thing.
You never mention one of the things I would like to see. The people in charge of overseeing banks and the SEC are still there, and if have heard no calls for their heads. They are not elected, so lets clean house.
Finally, on the issue of failing banks, I had money in a failed bank in 64, and it took months to get my money from FDIC. Today, you may have checking, savings, and direct deposit. A run on the bank may be the only way to get back the money you need to live your daily life.
9-30-2008 @ 5:38PM
Mike Sanders said...
Excellent and timely column... You are spot on, regarding the responsibility of those in the media and what's been going on. What you may not realize, is that this is also good advice for us, your readers, as well. I've often been far too animate and have found myself blocked from posting on certain topics, e.g., I can post about shark attacks and Britney sightings, but I must have rubbed someone the wrong way, in politico-land. Anyway, i hope that you don't find this post offensive in any way. I try my best to be nice, informative and funny. That last part is the most difficult, as everyone's sense of humor is somewhat different. Again, thank you for the advice, no joke. :-)