BP Defines Deviancy Down

The national press is slow off the mark on the huge oil spill in Michigan

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 29, 2010 at 07:24 PM

The national press stuffs a big story today on a massive new oil spill in the Kalamazoo River. Size, of... More

WSJ Looks at the Overdraft Bottom Feeders

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 29, 2010 at 09:59 AM

The Wall Street Journal is terrific this morning to throw the spotlight on the seedy cottage industry that feeds off... More

Audit Notes: Moody’s Market, Revolving Door, Tables Turned on Zuck

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 28, 2010 at 07:13 PM

Kevin Hall of McClatchy has a great scoop on Moody's CEO's suspiciously timed stock sales. In one case, CEO Ray... More

Yglesias and McArdle Miss on Interchange Fees

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 28, 2010 at 05:46 PM

Matt Yglesias is defending the interchange industry, which transfers money from the poor to the rich—all through hidden fees. Once... More

Apple’s Controlling Instincts Hit Time and SI

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 28, 2010 at 01:57 PM

The Wall Street Journal's approach to charging the iPad has been the smartest of any of the media. The Journal... More

Audit Notes: GE Corruption, Poor Subsidizing the Rich, Takedown

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 27, 2010 at 08:55 PM

Footnoted's Theo Francis spotlights an eye-raising settlement by GE, which essentially confessed to bribing foreign officials (in Iraq, no less)... More

Seven Top-Paid CEOs Lost Shareholders’ Money in the 2000s

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 27, 2010 at 06:24 PM

The Wall Street Journal runs the numbers on the Top 25 Highest Paid CEOs of the Decade and they are,... More

Reuters Gets a Wall Street Take on Warren

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 27, 2010 at 10:52 AM

What would it sound like on Wall Street if we got a regulator like, say, Elizabeth Warren, who is resolutely... More

Audit Notes: Angelides; Goldman Sachs; Broke, Fat, and Stoned

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 26, 2010 at 08:31 PM

In non-polo news, the Financial Times scooped this morning that the Financial Crisis Inquiry (aka Angelides) Commission is threatening to... More

Looking the Other Way on Wall Street

NYT’s Morgenson reports that Wall Street knew that bundled loans didn’t meet standards

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 26, 2010 at 05:54 PM

Gretchen Morgenson had an excellent column in yesterday's Times that gets at one of the core issues if criminal cases... More

“The Word Was Polo; The Man, Ralph Lauren”

Place those special sections, gleefully, in the recycle pile unread

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 26, 2010 at 11:43 AM

One of the dirty little secrets of the newspaper business is that you should almost never bother to read a... More

It’s Still Unclear Why Cassano Got Off the Hook

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 23, 2010 at 06:16 PM

The Wall Street Journal's leder this morning explores why the government dropped its criminal fraud investigation of AIG's Joseph Cassano,... More

Audit Notes: Pretty-Penny Paywall, Booty, Fair Trade

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 22, 2010 at 10:21 PM

The New York Times says it is spending more than $7 million every three months to develop its paywall. (CEO... More

Bright Spots For the Times in Digital Revenue

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 22, 2010 at 07:29 PM

The New York Times reported (relatively) good second-quarter numbers today—especially in digital ads, up 20 percent in its division—and Jeff... More

WSJ’s Good Coverage of Warren and the CFPB

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 22, 2010 at 02:22 PM

The Wall Street Journal's leder today on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows the paper in fine form. If you... More

CNBC’s Dennis Kneale Goes Native

Cultivating powerful sources at the expense of telling the story

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 21, 2010 at 09:19 PM

We may have ourselves a new poster boy of Access Journalism. Say hello to CNBC's Dennis Kneale, protector of the... More

Audit Notes: Fannie/Freddie Already, Obama on Finreg, WaMu’s Valukas?

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 21, 2010 at 08:20 PM

Next time you hear someone spouting the line that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Community Reinvestment Act were the... More

Surprise! Ratings Firms Nailed By Financial Reform

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 21, 2010 at 09:55 AM

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that part of the bond market has shut down because credit raters like... More

Audit Notes: Not-So-Sharp Claws, Eighty Cents, A+!

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 20, 2010 at 08:10 PM

Charlie Gasparino scoops that pay czar Ken Feinberg is going to try to claw back some 2008 banker bonuses later... More

Megabanks on Steroids

The Journal examines how the too big just keep getting bigger

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 20, 2010 at 10:58 AM

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent page-one story this morning on how giant banks are getting bigger and throttling... More