"If you want to get a financial story onto the front pages you must have a picture of David Beckham”

Back in Manchester after spending yesterday morning at Polis at the London School of Economics.

They were launching their report into financial reporting and the media, entitled "“What is financial journalism for? Ethics and responsibility in a time of crisis and change.

You can read the whole report here

The seminar launch though was enlivened by some lively and concise thoughts from Ed Wasserman who is the Knight Professor in journalism at Washington and Lee University
Lexington.

He argued that what distinguishes the professional journalist from other purveyors of information is the ethical foundation and in particular that based on independence.
In his view this is where the financial journalist is most at risk.
To a certain extent risk can be mitigated by disclosure of interest but he identified three endemic conflicts that often occur

endemic conflicts

1.source dependence-is both indispensable but also inhibits disclosure
2.pressure from advertisers
3.pressure to respond to public taste

For Ed,financial journalist have not come as yet come under the same scrutiny as political ones did for not questioning the Iraq war but when the Post Mortem's occur,people will ask why the profession never questions how institutions were making their money.

His also lays the blame fairly and squarely at the door of the new media whose business model means that market driven audiences and niche models no longer reward economies of scale.

Instead we have a proliferation of voices whose priority is to publish first and fact check after.

"A hunger for content means that credibility no longer brings success according to Ed
and "Speed leads to a greater reliance on a smaller number of sources."

Valid arguments an one's which could apply to any journalism and not simply financial journalism.

The problem though for financial journalists as laid out in the opening gambit by Damian Tarding is that they have a unique responsibility in that their information is directly important in the workings of the financial markets.

Wrong information can and does result in the inefficient workings of that market is the distribution of capital.In layman's terms it effects share prices,interest rates and commodity rates.

Tarding identified five challenges for financial journalism

1.increasing speed of the market and the consequent response for news
2.a comlexity which requires training and skills
3.PR conflicts which make it difficult to hold corporate life to account.
4.Sustainability-difficulties of funding a risky investigation
5.Globalisation-what makes a national interest story when corporations transcend national barriers?