There was a pair of articles on Friday about reporters at the “other” business networks, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business Network, and the two could not be more different.
On one side, there is Marketwatch.com’s profile of Bloomberg TV’s Margaret Brennan. The article uses her recent trip to Cairo to set up the notion that Brennan is poised to lead Bloomberg to higher ratings:
“Bloomberg management recognizes Brennan’s potential to attract a sizable audience during her two-hour show each morning from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern.
Advertisement“My show is ‘In Business with Margaret Brennan,’” she pointed out. The point is that Bloomberg is choosing to brand its rising star.”
On the other side, there is FBN’s Dennis Kneale:
Talking Biz News takes Kneale to task for his “shameless” self-promotion:
“Kneale sounds like he is desperate for attention and is asking people to re-tweet an appearance and to watch him on Fox Business. Journalists aren’t supposed to make the story about them. Aren’t they supposed to be focused on breaking actual business news?
…
To be sure, Kneale is using Twitter to post some headlines of breaking news. But it’s the call for viewers that seems so unbecoming. If you’re good, the viewers will follow.”
Of course, neither FBN or Bloomberg is publicly rated by Nielsen, so any gains made by Brennan’s performance in Egypt or Kneale’s social media self-promotion will be hard to spot.