On Tuesday night, my colleague Katherine Kilpatrick and I attended a panel on the subject of social media and financial journalism at the Wall Street Journal offices in midtown, NYC. Hosted by the Financial Communications Society, the discussion brought together journalists and scholars to opine on the future of a reporting niche near and dear to our colleagues and clients here at BlissPR. Financial news has been slower to adapt to the new social media platforms than areas like entertainment and technology, but the proverbial ball is rolling (see The Big Money, Alphaville).
The overarching message upon which everyone agreed won’t be news to most of you: this landscape is changing, and fast. Dennis Berman of the Wall Street Journal remarked that “every day, people die – they read newspapers. Every day, people are born – they won’t.” Paul Murphy of the Financial Times declared that the newspaper business is ill-prepared for the magnitude of change currently taking place.
Surprisingly, though, the overall sentiment of the event was positive (and not just because there was an open bar). While there are tremendous changes afoot, there’s a great deal of enthusiasm in the financial reporting community about the opportunities they present. Sree Sreenivasan of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism heralded the rise of the “Tradigital Journalist” – a traditional journalist with an overlay of digital knowledge and skills. The importance of specialization, among journalists and marketers alike, will be amplified as the media continues to fragment.
Stocks and investments may not seem as conducive to online community building as celebrity gossip or high-tech gadgetry, but the panelists at the FCS event believe that’s where we’re heading, and we agree. Social media is all about engagement among people who share an understanding of and an interest in common topics, including financial news. Organizations cited as pioneers in the new media age (not necessarily on the financial beat) were The Huffington Post, Politico, DNAinfo.com and TMZ, to name a few.
Who do you think is blazing the trail for financial journalism in social media?
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11/13/2009 at 10:58 AM Permalink
Financial news has the luxury of a more affluent readership than general news — so there’s time here to fumble with new technologies. Perhaps this is a lofty assumption, but financial news hounds are probably looking for more facts and less fluff… I would think the “fluff factor” is dangerous with new technologies.
In the end, a financial reporter should ask themselves — is whatever technology I’m using to share this information helping explain the story? Or is it deterring from the stats that our readers are actually concerned with (necessary for sound investment decisions)?
11/13/2009 at 2:24 PM Permalink
Great insights – thanks, Sarah! One element of Tuesday’s discussion was the idea that some emerging social media communities devoted to financial news are less universally accessible than more general outlets – they are subscription-based, or limited to professionals in a certain field. I think communities that adopt this model will cut down on the “fluff factor” simply because their users wouldn’t be interested, as you pointed out. On the other hand, you never know – I’m sure there are a few hedge fund managers out there with a penchant for Perez Hilton!