One of the “Top Headlines” on ABC News’ Web site at 10:15 this morning was “Dow Jones Industrials Cross 12,000 for First Time.” Naturally we clicked through, expecting yet more cheerleading about yet another record performance from the Dow.
But ABC blew us away.
An orange and red “BREAKING NEWS” banner at the top of the story page declared, “DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE MOVES PAST 12,000 FOR FIRST TIME TODAY ON DECLINING OIL PRICES, STRONG CORPORATE EARNINGS.”
Then came the headline “The Dow Jones Industrials Cross 12,000,” followed, in inimitable ABC style, by the subhed, “The Dow Jones Industrial Average Crosses 12,000 for the First Time.”
Below that to the left were three Money headlines, including “The Dow Jones Industrials Cross 12,000” and “Dow Industrials Pass 12,000 for 1st Time.”
To the right was the first paragraph of the AP’s story: “The Dow Jones industrial average swept past 12,000 for the first time Wednesday, extending its march into record territory as investors grow increasingly optimistic about corporate earnings and the economy.”
After such excessive redundancy, reading the rest of the story wasn’t really necessary, but the AP did report that the Dow “surpassed the milestone just after trading began, rising as high as 12,046.63,” thus completing an arduous seven-and-a-half year trip from 11,000.
Woo hoo!
Edward B. Colby was a writer at CJR Daily.