Financial journalism, cynics have said, is
a last refuge of scoundrels. It attracts men and women
from all walks of life and is a branch of the trade
that, unlike local newspaper journalism for instance,
has no recognized qualifications.
Of the many wise and wonderful things that are said
about journalists, one is that their role has ‘power
without responsibility’, and another is that
‘you cannot bribe the British journalist’.
Both of these sayings have enough truth to have made
them part of our culture but neither tells the full
story. Let us take a look at how members of the financial
press ply their trade.
The journalists create stories from basic information
in a news release and may use some of it verbatim.
The release may convey a slanted message. If a company’s
sales are up but its profits are down, the release
may put the emphasis on the sales. If net profits
are down but pre-tax profits are up, it may highlight
the latter. Journalists often do not read between
the lines. This can be due to a lack of accounting
knowledge, or plain laziness.
Some resent the industry that they write about because
it pays its front¬line performers so much more
than they earn. They may relish opportunities to put
the boot in, and make good use of information leaks
from bankers and stockbrokers perhaps anxious to scupper
the business of their rivals. They will print the
one-sided story if it checks out enough to avoid libel
risk.
National newspapers are more careful and more balanced
in their reporting than some of the trade press, but
may also go into less depth. Jason Nissé wrote
in The Independent on 14 May 2006, shortly before
being lured away from his post there as business editor
to become public relations director at Barclays:
