[Background: first posted in my Parabolica blog (which no one seems to love but me) the reference to her expression at the end of the post concerns a Mark Haines' comment: after a pitcher lost a no-hitter on a bad call, he remarked that you can't change the rules to fit the occasion. Erin protested the unfairness of it all, to which Mark replied, "Well, I guess that's why there's no female commissioners."]
I know I've mentioned this several times, in different ways, but I watch alot of CNBC. Almost 2 years ago, just after Lehman Brothers failed, I thought it would be a good idea to learn more about how our markets actually functioned, as opposed to the theories I had read in books. I started watching Bloomberg premarket and, while informative, I found it a little dry and numerically driven with little insight into the people and practices of Wall Street. So I started to mix in CNBC, expecting a big corporation bias (General Electric owns all the NBC outlets including CNBC), but in comparing the two, I found if there was bias, it was consistent between Bloomberg and CNBC, probably a result of demographic research. What was the pleasant surprise was how much more educational and entertaining CNBC is.
I've got to hand it to these guys, they really let their people work with no filters or repercussions for that lack of filtering. Someone at the top made the decision to hire great talent and let them be news people, real news people, that are as likely to harass a guest as congratulate them. I've seen people walk out on interviews when they got too hot, I've seen many people driven into contradictions by their interviewers and seen a few eyes glaze over with a "What the hell is this?" look when they are asked questions that no other channel with ask, much less expect an answer to.
Really, no gotchas here, great work and great entertainment and that has got to start at the top. I now have a basic grasp of derivatives and I even know what ebitda is (I've actually turned it into a drinking game). CNBC took a beating in some quarters during the crash for not being more out in front of it, though many of them were and loudly, and I think that experience has made them much more diligent, conscious of the fact that there aren't very many real news outlets left and if they miss something, it will probably be missed by everyone.
Tonight, a first at CNBC (as far as I'm aware), "The Last Days of Lehman Brothers", a movie made by CNBC with James Cromwell as the lead, I'm assuming Paulson. Looks great, can't wait to see it and I wonder if I'm in the minority. I'm thinking NBC should show it, you know, raise the bar a couple of notches above their murdervision staple. Just a suggestion.
You know I can't talk about CNBC without mentioning my girl, Erin Burnett. This morning she walks into an interview about Fin-Reg with Democrats AND Republicans, unarmed, and gets them to commit on the Volker Rule (all for) and the Lincoln derivative language (party lines) and everyone leaves smiling, smiling after having to give an straight yes or no answer. Magical. (I think they know she knows more about it then they do.)
Very patriotic Erin, negotiating Fin-Reg, but I'd rather have that button. I ask for so little.
Seriously, it's good to see you back at the top of your game. You seemed a little frazzled at times last year but you've gathered yourself up nicely.
I'm not saying Haines is completely right but there's no hugging in baseball just like there's no crying. Did they keep score at Williams or did everybody win?
And the look on your face was priceless.
I know I've mentioned this several times, in different ways, but I watch alot of CNBC. Almost 2 years ago, just after Lehman Brothers failed, I thought it would be a good idea to learn more about how our markets actually functioned, as opposed to the theories I had read in books. I started watching Bloomberg premarket and, while informative, I found it a little dry and numerically driven with little insight into the people and practices of Wall Street. So I started to mix in CNBC, expecting a big corporation bias (General Electric owns all the NBC outlets including CNBC), but in comparing the two, I found if there was bias, it was consistent between Bloomberg and CNBC, probably a result of demographic research. What was the pleasant surprise was how much more educational and entertaining CNBC is.
I've got to hand it to these guys, they really let their people work with no filters or repercussions for that lack of filtering. Someone at the top made the decision to hire great talent and let them be news people, real news people, that are as likely to harass a guest as congratulate them. I've seen people walk out on interviews when they got too hot, I've seen many people driven into contradictions by their interviewers and seen a few eyes glaze over with a "What the hell is this?" look when they are asked questions that no other channel with ask, much less expect an answer to.
Really, no gotchas here, great work and great entertainment and that has got to start at the top. I now have a basic grasp of derivatives and I even know what ebitda is (I've actually turned it into a drinking game). CNBC took a beating in some quarters during the crash for not being more out in front of it, though many of them were and loudly, and I think that experience has made them much more diligent, conscious of the fact that there aren't very many real news outlets left and if they miss something, it will probably be missed by everyone.
Tonight, a first at CNBC (as far as I'm aware), "The Last Days of Lehman Brothers", a movie made by CNBC with James Cromwell as the lead, I'm assuming Paulson. Looks great, can't wait to see it and I wonder if I'm in the minority. I'm thinking NBC should show it, you know, raise the bar a couple of notches above their murdervision staple. Just a suggestion.
You know I can't talk about CNBC without mentioning my girl, Erin Burnett. This morning she walks into an interview about Fin-Reg with Democrats AND Republicans, unarmed, and gets them to commit on the Volker Rule (all for) and the Lincoln derivative language (party lines) and everyone leaves smiling, smiling after having to give an straight yes or no answer. Magical. (I think they know she knows more about it then they do.)
Very patriotic Erin, negotiating Fin-Reg, but I'd rather have that button. I ask for so little.
Seriously, it's good to see you back at the top of your game. You seemed a little frazzled at times last year but you've gathered yourself up nicely.
I'm not saying Haines is completely right but there's no hugging in baseball just like there's no crying. Did they keep score at Williams or did everybody win?
And the look on your face was priceless.
