If you missed it, read the lead story in yesterday’s Outlook section of the Washington Post. It takes on the blowhards on CNBC.
…just days before Bear Stearns stock became worthless, Jim Cramer's head nearly exploded off his shoulders, so intense was his conviction that his viewers should NOT. SELL. BEAR. But what I don't understand is the hundreds of thousands of people who still tune in every night to hear what he has to say. The newfound populist fame of CNBC's Rick Santelli is a mystery, too. His recent rant against Obama's mortgage bailout plan was really just more not-so-thoughtful advice, wasn't it? His seemed to be just another yelp from the network that surely did its part showing people the way to the bottom, now telling the president with complete conviction that a lot of those people shouldn't be helped back up.
What’s left unsaid is that not only is the advice from CNBC bloviators wrong, it is delivered with a decidedly right-wing perspective. The station lacks journalistic integrity.
One, its guests are overwhelmingly conservative. Often, CNBC books two guests to discuss a subject. One is a conservative, and the other is Attila the Hun. Rarely are progressives given a platform to give the other side of the story. More important and to the point of the article, economics is not a science. We’re guessing. We should have more discussions that include “yes, but.” We can’t know what’s going to happen next in the economy, much less the stock market. But we can have rational discussions about options and possibilities.
Two, we are asked to trust the reporting of anchors and reporters who regularly share with us their own opinions , and they, too, are far right-wing. How are we to trust their reporting when their biases on worn on their sleeves? The following reporters/anchors on CNBC cannot be trusted:
- Charlie Gasparino
- Maria Bartiromo
- Erin Burnett
- Michelle Caruso-Cabrera
- Dennis Kneale
- Melissa Francis
- Larry Kudlow
- Melissa Lea
- Becky Quick
- Carl Quintanella
- Joe Kernen
But Democrats and progressives must share some of the blame. When they see unfair coverage and unbalanced views, they need to make an issue of it. The Republicans are aggressive when it comes to media. Dems wait for the phone to ring.