Conrad makes some good points about reliance on analysts for trends, then looking for only those trends, reporting them, and claiming "Eureka, we found our trend."
The media is connected to popularity, whether it is computer operating systems or Beanie Babies (my own 7-year-old had no interest in the critters until she read in the Wall Street Journal that they were in short supply). We know that we can be and routinely are manipulated by clever corporate entities. Quite frankly, we resent it yet in the type of business we are in (news), it is inevitable that we get sucked into hype.
But we are trying to be fair in our coverage, offering true perspective and not just Talking Heads. Our reporting principles dictate that we don't spoon-feed quotes to sources, despite that some publications (trade and not) do this routinely. The comments along this thread are very valuable, and I'll share them with my colleagues.
Rachel Parker
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