Ask Cohen's chief deputy, Mark Hoffman, CNBC's managing editor for content, what he'd do with a wave of a magic wand, and he too has an instantaneous response: "I'd give our reporters access to every analyst-company meeting, every conference call between executives, many of which are closed now. We want to cast sunlight on everything that affects investors."
Today, few single-media outlets have as much of an impact on investors as CNBC does. The Weather Channel only reports the weather -- and the way the weather is reported doesn't change the climate. But CNBC's reporting does change the climate of the markets. That's true certainly for the short term, and perhaps that's even the case for the long term. People at CNBC are smart and self-aware enough to understand that some investors may be using the network as their main tip sheet to the market-as-horse-track, as opposed to investing in their kids' college education. CNBC handles the powerful influence that it has on viewers partly by poking fun at it on the air.
Robert Balentine, chairman and CEO of investment-counseling firm Balentine & Co., is a regular guest host on Squawk Box. He sits beside Mark Haines and offers his take on market events of the recent past and near future. Recently on the air, he suggested that the first couple of months of 2000 have made the market look "like a bloodbath.... The patient investor sits this one out."
"Oh, it's probably CNBC's fault," replied Joe Kernen ruefully. "it's something we did. You know, we dictate a lot of the market."
Fast Company Senior Editor Charles Fishman (cnfish@mindspring.com) appeared on CNBC once -- while taking notes for this story. Visit CNBC on the web (www.cnbc.com).
Many people in the CNBC newsroom feel, as Maria Bartiromo put it, that there is no reason why Joe Smith the deli owner shouldn't have access to exactly the same information for making investment decisions as Joe Smith the investment banker does. More than 30 guests appear on the air each day -- CEOs, senior mutual-fund and money fund managers, sector analysts, and industry specialists. "We give viewers access to people whom they wouldn't see elsewhere," says Sue Herera, anchor of CNBC's daily wrap show, Business Center.
That's the promise of the explosion of information about companies, of the democratization of the markets. It's also the illusion -- and the contradiction of CNBC itself. A three-minute interview with the CEO of Lucent Technologies is more than any little-guy investor would get. But deciding to invest on the basis of those three minutes is probably no wiser than if you never heard the CEO speak at all.
In the span of three minutes, CNBC recently covered the following topics: investing in Latin American funds, prospects for paper companies, and a new drug for treating attention-deficit disorder. The network's breakneck pace sends the opposite message for the mutual-fund managers and anchors, who constantly counsel prudence and a long-term perspective. It's as if the VJs on MTV cheerfully urged chastity and church attendance.
The democratization of information is not only good; it's probably unstoppable. But the idea that "democratizing" information puts a deli owner and an investment banker on the same playing field is absurd. It's like saying that because you read the New England Journal of Medicine, you have the same knowledge that your doctor has.
Even CNBC's own slogans and on-air promotions play off the notion that the market is a happy lottery: "You snooze, you lose." The network has a charming and instructive tape about how to watch CNBC, narrated by Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. The title: "Watch and Make Money."
Age: 32
In June, Married publisher Jonathan Steinberg, son of legendary financier Saul Steinberg.
Background: Studied economics at NYU; spent seven years at CNBC. (Her first job was at CNN.)
Pictures on desk: Several dogs; a snapshot of herself with Walter Cronkite; a picture of Sophia Loren, whom some people say she resembles.
Her portfolio: "I don't buy stocks -- I own only mutual funds. I talk about so many companies that I feel as if it would be a conflict."
Age: 35
Married Jenny Harris, executive producer of CNN's flagship business show, Moneyline News Hour, in January.
Background:In 1985 and 1986, worked for the Democratic National Committee; freelanced for the Washington Post.
Recent on-air revelation: Hasn't used the oven in his Manhattan apartment "in about five years."
Best perk of being a TV talent: "Saks does our clothes. I go to Saks, someone walks around with me, and I get to pick anything I want."
Email
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Buzz Up!
LinkedIn
