Author Archive

Articles by Dean Starkman | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Eakes!

   March 12, 2008 09:46 AM

   Forbes readers will be forgiven their confusion after reading a recent profile of Martin Eakes, a leading anti-predatory-lending crusader. Headlined “Subprime’s Mr. Clean,” the piece is accompanied by a photo illustration of Eakes in a knight’s armor with blotches of... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   Popular? Must Be “Populist”

   February 20, 2008 03:59 PM

   Before this gets out of hand, big media needs to stop using the word “populist" to describe Democrats’ economic programs and their appeals to voters. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal keep making the same mistake, both... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   Democrats Attack “Business,” “Trade”

   February 18, 2008 01:55 PM

   Wary Wall Street Journal watchers on the lookout for signs that Rupert Murdoch’s pro-corporate agenda will creep into the Journal’s news pages will find one in Saturday’s lead story" “Democrats' Attacks On Business Heat Up.” I don’t know whether... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   Mad Money, Bad Blood

   February 15, 2008 07:45 AM

   Last summer, Barron’s published a tough story on Jim Cramer, concluding that the manic and popular star of CNBC’s Mad Money program did not, for all his bluster to the contrary, beat the broader market with his stock picks.... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   Oklahoma 1999

   February 8, 2008 10:59 AM

   Before we turn the page on the deadly tornadoes in the south that killed fifty-seven this week, according to the latest count, it’s worth reminding business reporters and editors of a now-forgotten string of tornadoes that hit Oklahoma... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   Conspicuous Assumption

   February 5, 2008 01:40 PM

   The New York Times poorly serves readers this morning with a surprisingly ill-informed story about Americans paying cash these days instead of using their credit cards. In making that unobjectionable but not well-supported point, the Times swallows whole... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   Stretched Ethics

   January 31, 2008 12:20 PM

   The new chief of an upcoming Wall Street Journal magazine aimed at the superrich quoted her business partner in a Times of London column and mentioned their business—a small chain of yoga studios—in other columns without telling readers of her... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   Zell The Manager

   January 22, 2008 10:35 AM

   The back and forth between another newly dismissed Los Angeles Times editor who refused to carry out another round of budget cuts and the publisher who ordered the cuts has a familiar ring. The details of the argument aren’t the... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   Tale of a Winning Bet Against Predators

   January 15, 2008 12:41 PM

   The Audit congratulates The Wall Street Journal for a riveting read this morning on the big winner in the subprime collapse, John Paulson, a hedge-fund manager who made big and timely bets against the junk subprime-backed securities Wall... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    Journalism Makes Them Uncomfortable

    January 10, 2008 12:19 PM

    TheDeal.com the other day wanted to know who leaked the story about Jimmy Cayne being pushed from his job as chief executive of Bear Stearns & Co., the big Wall Street firm. It appears as if the Continue reading

11. The Audit

    Unsupported and Untrue

    January 2, 2008 01:33 PM

    The lead story in a recent Wall Street Journal says that borrower fraud "goes a long way toward explaining why mortgage defaults and foreclosures are rocking financial institutions, Wall Street and the economy." In other words, some significant share... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    Letting Sleeping Watchdogs Lie

    December 20, 2007 03:20 PM

    Reading business-press coverage of Henry Paulson over the past few months was disorienting. Something was missing, but you couldn’t put your finger on it. “Paulson attacks 'shameful' lenders,” The Financial Times reported in October. [Paulson] said the conduct... Continue reading

13. The Kicker

    Downie Overdoes It

    December 19, 2007 02:38 PM

    In an otherwise reasonable and spirited defense of a reporter, The Washington Post’s Leonard Downie Jr. trips by employing ad hominem attack and innuendo against a critic—the very tactics Downie seeks to criticize. For those not following the debate, a... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    What He Said

    December 12, 2007 02:10 PM

    An exceptionally wise column by Martin Wolf in this morning’s Financial Times strikes me as important for even casual business-press readers who may be wondering how to think about the global financial crisis. There is no irony in... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    Murdoch and that Lying Thing

    December 7, 2007 03:02 PM

    He said that he admired the Dow Jones chief executive, Richard F. Zannino, and the newly appointed top editor, Marcus W. Brauchli, and would leave them in place. He said that he did not plan on bringing any News... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    Incorrect

    December 6, 2007 04:30 PM

    Readers know errors are a fact of newspaper life, and business-press readers are no different. Errors are to be regretted, of course. To the reporters and subjects involved, they’re no laughing matter. But, to the rest of us, let’s face... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    Stilettos Are The Rage

    November 21, 2007 12:25 PM

    Any Wall Street Journal reporter, editor—or reader—would do well to read the first 40 pages or so of Judith Regan’s 75-page wrongful dismissal complaint from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. One needn’t see Bernie Kerik’s ex-mistress, the notoriously profane and forceful... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    Esquire vs. The Audit on Ground Zero Coverage

    November 19, 2007 11:25 AM

    Editor's Note: In a recent two-part edition, The Audit roundly castigated the press for what we believe has been a dismal job covering the reconstruction of the World Trade Center. We took issue with repetitive and undeservedly positive... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    Zell If He Knows

    November 15, 2007 12:28 PM

    Connie Bruck's excellent profile of Sam Zell in this week's New Yorker contains information that even close Zell-watchers did not know. For instance, Zell testified against his brother-in-law, Roger Baskes, in a 1976 tax-avoidance criminal case stemming from a... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    The Weed Ain’t the Half of It

    November 6, 2007 03:20 PM

    In case you missed it, The Wall Street Journal’s Kate Kelly last week produced an exceptional page-one story, known in house at the Journal as a “leder,” that reconstructs the tense days during the collapse of two hedge... Continue reading

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