Author Archive
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The Audit
Eakes!
March 12, 2008 09:46 AMForbes 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
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The Audit
Popular? Must Be “Populist”
February 20, 2008 03:59 PMBefore 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
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The Audit
Democrats Attack “Business,” “Trade”
February 18, 2008 01:55 PMWary 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
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The Audit
Mad Money, Bad Blood
February 15, 2008 07:45 AMLast 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
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The Audit
Oklahoma 1999
February 8, 2008 10:59 AMBefore 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
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The Audit
Conspicuous Assumption
February 5, 2008 01:40 PMThe 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
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The Audit
Stretched Ethics
January 31, 2008 12:20 PMThe 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
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The Audit
Zell The Manager
January 22, 2008 10:35 AMThe 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
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The Audit
Tale of a Winning Bet Against Predators
January 15, 2008 12:41 PMThe 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
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The Audit
Journalism Makes Them Uncomfortable
January 10, 2008 12:19 PMTheDeal.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
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The Audit
Unsupported and Untrue
January 2, 2008 01:33 PMThe 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
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The Audit
Letting Sleeping Watchdogs Lie
December 20, 2007 03:20 PMReading 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
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The Kicker
Downie Overdoes It
December 19, 2007 02:38 PMIn 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
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The Audit
What He Said
December 12, 2007 02:10 PMAn 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
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The Audit
Murdoch and that Lying Thing
December 7, 2007 03:02 PMHe 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
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The Audit
Incorrect
December 6, 2007 04:30 PMReaders 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
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The Audit
Stilettos Are The Rage
November 21, 2007 12:25 PMAny 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
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The Audit
Esquire vs. The Audit on Ground Zero Coverage
November 19, 2007 11:25 AMEditor'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
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The Audit
Zell If He Knows
November 15, 2007 12:28 PMConnie 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
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The Audit
The Weed Ain’t the Half of It
November 6, 2007 03:20 PMIn 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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