Bad News: How America's Business Press Missed the Story of the Century - Business Journalism Analysis & Media Criticism for Entrepreneurs and Investors

Bad News offers a thought provoking analysis of the role the business press played during the financial crisis, and in the years leading up to it. Rather than making excuses for the media's failure to provide enough critical coverage of Wall Street as the housing bubble inflated, this book seeks to identify weaknesses in the way media companies are structured, and problems with the incentives and constrains journalists face. Chapters written by top business reporters and academics provide several perspectives on what the media did and didn't do well before and during the crisis. Anya Schiffrin, a professor at Columbia University and long-time journalist in Europe and Asia, edits and writes the introduction. Contributing writers include Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia Journalism Review's Dean Starkman, and Peter Goodman from The Huffington Post. As a former economy reporter myself, I found the book captured the core problems with the financial press. Bad News traces these issues to the historical beginnings of the business media and brings the debate forward with a lively discussion about how to build good sources, obtain reliable information, improve reporter expertise, and get beyond pack journalism. The book is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in understanding the motivating factors behind press coverage, and the need for financial journalists to hold Wall Street accountable.