Starkman the watchdog that didnt bark; the financial crisis and the disappearance of investigative journalism (2014)

The Watchdog That Didn’t Bark COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW BOOKS COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW BOOKS Series Editors: Victor Navasky, Evan Cornog, Mike Hoyt, and the editors of the Columbia Journalism Review For more than fifty years, the Columbia Journalism Review has been the gold standard for media criticism, holding the profession to the highest standards and exploring where journalism is headed, for good and for ill Columbia Journalism Review Books expands upon this mission, seeking to publish titles that allow for greater depth in exploring key issues confronting journalism, both past and present, and pointing to new ways of thinking about the field’s impact and potential Drawing on the expertise of the editorial staff at the Columbia Journalism Review as well as the Columbia Journalism School, the series of books will seek out innovative voices as well as reclaim important works, traditions, and standards In doing this, the series will also incorporate new ways of publishing made available by the Web and e-books Second Read: Writers Look Back at Classic Works of Reportage, edited by James Marcus and the Staff of the Columbia Journalism Review The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism, Bill Grueskin, Ava Seave, and Lucas Graves The Best Business Writing 2012, edited by Dean Starkman, Martha M Hamilton, Ryan Chittum, and Felix Salmon The Art of Making Magazines: On Being an Editor and Other Views from the Industry, edited by Victor S Navasky and Evan Cornog The Best Business Writing 2013, edited by Dean Starkman, Martha M Hamilton, Ryan Chittum, and Felix Salmon THE WATCHDOG THAT DIDN’T BARK The Financial Crisis and the Disappearance of Investigative Journalism DEAN STARKMAN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © 2014 Dean Starkman All rights reserved E-ISBN 978-0-231-53628-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Starkman, Dean The watchdog that didn’t bark : the financial crisis and the disappearance of investigative reporting / Dean Starkman pages cm — (Columbia journalism review books) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-0-231-15818-3 (cloth : alk paper) —ISBN 978-0-231-53628-8 (e-book) Financial crises—United States—Press coverage Investigative reporting—United States I Title HB3722.S792 2014 070.4'493309730931—dc23 2013023077 A Columbia University Press E-book CUP would be pleased to hear about your reading experience with this e-book at cup-ebook@columbia.edu Jacket design by David High Jacket photographs by Getty Images References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared To the memory of Mark Pittman, the great financial reporter whose untimely death on Thanksgiving, 2009, was an incalculable loss to the public’s understanding of the financial crisis And to the memory of my father, Stanley Starkman, and to Alex and Julian “Wrong hatbox! Wrong hatbox!” —CLARENCE W BARRON, a founder of modern financial journalism CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction: Access and Accountability Ida Tarbell, Muckraking, and the Rise of Accountability Reporting Access and Messenger Boys: The Roots of Business News and the Birth of the Wall Street Journal Kilgore’s Revolution at the Wall Street Journal: Rise of the Great Story Muckraking Goes Mainstream: Democratizing Financial and Technical Knowledge CNBCization: Insiders, Access, and the Return of the Messenger Boy Subprime Rises in the 1990s: Journalism and Regulation Fight Back Muckraking the Banks, 2000–2003: A Last Gasp for Journalism and Regulation Three Journalism Outsiders Unearth the Looming Mortgage Crisis The Watchdog That Didn’t Bark: The Disappearance of Accountability Reporting and the Mortgage Frenzy, 2004–2006 10 Digitism, Corporatism, and the Future of Journalism: As the Hamster Wheel Turns Notes Bibliography Index ACKNOWLEDGMENTS his book is a project of the Columbia Journalism Review and would not have been possible without its support Founded in 1961, CJR considers itself a friend and watchdog over the press, and it is in that spirit this book is written So thanks are owed to its chairman and guiding spirit, Victor Navasky, and to Nicholas Lemann, the outgoing dean of the Columbia Journalism School I’d also like to express special thanks to Mike Hoyt for encouraging this project and for his friendship, wise counsel, and invaluable editorial support Ryan Chittum, deputy chief of “The Audit,” CJR’s business section, which I run, has been a stalwart in upholding its values while emerging as one of the bright stars among media bloggers Warm thanks also go to funders of CJR, starting with supporters of “The Audit.” Our major funder, Kingsford Capital Management, has supported “The Audit” throughout I’m particularly grateful to Mike Wilkins and his family for their warm hospitality, as well as to his longtime Kingsford partner, Dave Scially I also thank Peter Lowy for his friendship and support, along with my friend Gary Lutin I and the Nation Institute for their support of my work over the years I thank CJR’s vice chairmen, David Kellogg and Peter Osnos, and its board: Stephen Adler, Neil Barsky, Emily Bell, Nathan S Collier, Cathleen Collins, Sheila Coronel, Howard W French, Wade Greene, Joan Konner, Eric Lax, Kenneth Lerer, Steven Lipin, Michael Oreskes, Josh Reibel, Randall Rothenberg, Michael Schudson, Richard Snyder, and Laurel Touby Thanks also Brent Cunningham, Liz Barrett, Brendan Fitzgerald, Greg Marx, Michael Murphy, Justin Peters, Curtis Brainard, Cyndi Stivers, Stephanie Sandberg, Dean Pajevic, Tom O’Neill, Cathy Harding, Marietta Bell, Lt Jose Robledo, Elinore Longordi, Christopher U Massie, Sang Ngo, Kira Goldenberg, and Dennis Giza I also wish to extend warm thanks to Philip Leventhal, my editor at Columbia University Press, for asking to me to the book in the first place and for his skillful edits and wise counsel in guiding it to completion Same goes for Michael Haskell for his superb edits, suggestions, and fixes I also thank James Jordan, the press’s outgoing president and director, for his support and wish him well on his next adventure Warm thanks also to Tom Wallace, my agent, as well as Deirdre Mullane, CJR’s agent on its Best Business Writing series By a stroke of luck, CJR happened to share an office suite at Pulitzer Hall with Professor Richard R John, who went far beyond normal standards of collegiality and enormously improved The Watchdog with his insights and authoritative knowledge of the field I owe great thanks to the library staff of Columbia University for their tireless help in researching this book, most especially Kathleen Dreyer, head librarian at Thomas J Watson business library, for cheerfully responding to my endless requests for information and references Thanks also to Jane Folpe for brilliant edits and big-picture suggestions that did much to help shape this argument; Alyssa Katz for taking time to read and offer wise suggestions on T a key chapter; and Michael Massing for a stimulating conversation on the work of the great Ida Tarbell Warm thanks also to Anya Schiffrin for her friendship, encouragement, and steadfast support I thank Mike Hudson, a reporter and an important figure in this book, for getting in touch with me five years ago to show me his Citigroup story, and for his time and cooperation and his friendship The Watchdog That Didn’t Bark is the culmination of a nearly twenty-five-year reporting career, which was influenced by a remarkable set of mentors, colleagues, and friends I learned what a writer looks and sounds like from the late Hugh MacLennan, the great Canadian novelist, and an English professor and a mentor at McGill Penn Kimball, my master’s project advisor at the Columbia School of Journalism, taught me invaluable lessons about long-form news writing as well as his main mantra, “Journalism is a group activity!” which he repeated often in a slow cadence in case we didn’t understand the first time I learned about the importance of institutional journalism from the inside-out and was lucky to work at small, medium, and large newspapers, all, as it happens, family controlled I’m grateful to H Brandt Ayers and his family for their enlightened stewardship of the Anniston Star, where I first went to work as a reporter covering rural Alabama and later cops and courts At Brandy’s Star, I learned how deep a relationship can form—even if it was sometimes ambivalent—between a community and its newspaper I learned the critical role accountability reporting plays in a troubled community during my ten years at the Providence Journal, where I began covering night cops and ended as chief of its investigative team Majority owned by the Metcalf family, and under the leadership of the brilliant Michael P Metcalf, chairman and chief executive of its parent company, the Projo was, with the Rhode Island State Police under Colonel Walter E Stone, one of a few islands of integrity in a state then beset by the twin plagues of organized crime and political corruption Michael Metcalf’s untimely death in 1988, two years after I arrived, was a severe blow to the organization and to American journalism in general I’d also like to thank two important editors, James V Wyman and Thomas P Heslin, whose sound judgment and unflinching courage made possible groundbreaking news investigations that helped to spur innumerable reforms in that troubled state and led us to a Pulitzer Prize I offer thanks to the paper’s then outside counsel, Joseph V Cavanagh Jr., the very model of a newspaper lawyer who, while fiercely protective of the institution, always asked how to get stories into the paper, not how to keep them out My time in Providence was profoundly shaped by my friend, the late Ralph Greco, who flew bombing missions over Europe in World War II and returned home to build a successful jewelry-manufacturing supply business A member of the board of the powerful Rhode Island Public Buildings Authority, he was a key whistleblower in what turned out to be a sweeping Providence Journal investigation into corruption in the state’s public contracting system Ralph provided information at great personal and economic cost only because he knew what he was seeing was wrong and he wanted it exposed For him, it was as simple as that Similarly, I will always be grateful for my eight years at the Wall Street Journal, from 1996 to 2004 During my time there, I saw and experienced firsthand not just the inner workings of great American businesses and financial institutions but the inner life of a great Columbia University, 110, 112–13 Commercial and Financial Chronicle, 42 commercial press, 41–42 Community Reinvestment Act (1977), 171–72, 230 Condé Nast, 307–8 Condé Nast Portfolio, 286 Condon, Bernard, 206 Connolly, Vera, 110 Conseco, 192, 201, 212, 226, 227, 230 Consumer Bankers Association, 239 consumer finance, 165–69, 198 contextual journalism, 90, 91 Cony, Ed, 142 Cook, Fred J., 110 Cooper, Roy, 203 corporatism, 291 Cosmopolitan Magazine, 29 Countrywide Financial, 206, 232, 237, 238, 266, 276, 280, 327n5; deception and hard-sell, 213–14 Cox, Prentiss, 238 Cozzens, James Gould, 70 Craig, Susanne, 272 Craigslist, 242 Cramer, Jim, 3, 150, 155, 285, 334n1 Crane, Stephen, 24 Crash of 1929, 63, 167 Crash of 2008: battle over narrative of, 228–30; FCIC on, 47, 229, 230, 250, 275; GSE mortgages role in, 229–30; news business crisis coinciding with, 1, 3, 7; Tett on, 241; “Worst Crisis since ’30s, with No End Yet in Sight,” 285 credere (to believe), 221 credit card companies, 146, 175–76, 191, 212, 219, 235; no usury caps on lending rates, 168–69 credit-default swaps (CDSs), 258, 259, 280; as principle instrument, 221–23; role in Crash of 2008, 228 credit enhancements, 176 Crowley, Jumbo, 110 Cuomo, Andrew, 194, 198 Curtice, Harlan, 84 Curtis, J Montgomery, 117 customers, less savvy, 226–27 “Cutting to Kill” (Tarbell), 34, 54 Daily Oklahoman, 114 Daily Telegraph, 154 Dana, William Buck, 42 Danielson, Henry, 48 Davenport, Russell (“Mitch”), 72 Davies, Nick, 297 “Dealbook,” 10, 161–62 Dealbreaker, 290 deal scoops, 159–60 Dealy, Francis, 53, 96 Dedman, Bill, 172 DeLong, Brad, 290 Delta Financial Corporation, 201, 203, 204, 206–7 Den of Thieves (Stewart), 92 Deogun, Nik, 270, 272, 273 Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDA) (1980), 169 Depression and New Deal, 66–67, 72–78; rule capping bank rates on deposits, 146; Glass-Steagall Act, 169, 216–18; primemortgage and subprime loans formed during, 167; reshaping mortgage business, 167, 216; Wall Street Journal reaction, 63 deregulation, 250; 1970s inflation impacting, 168–69; Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act, 169; Black on, 189–90, 237; Community Reinvestment Act, 171–72, 230; Depository Institution Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, 169; Glass-Steagall Act repealed, 169, 216–18; Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 169; Housing and Urban Development Act, 167; Hudson’s investigation of, 105; net-capital rule changed, 218; Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 168; Riegle-Neal Interstate banking and Branching Efficiency Act, 169; RTC’s credit enhancements, 176; Truth in Lending Act, 168 derivatives market, 257–58, 282; Loomis’s coverage of, 125; outsiders’ perspective, 212, 218–25; Tett’s iceberg memos about, 220 Deseret News, 115 Des Moines Register, 103 Deutsche Bank, 238, 280 DIDA See Depository Institution Deregulation and Monetary Control Act Digital First, 308 “digital first,” 300 digital journalism: on accountability reporting, 8–9; business press affected by, 7, 14–15; comparison of news sources, 304; future of, 14–15; new wave of, 299–303 digitism, 291 Dimon, Jamie, 162, 264 Dobbs, Lou, 149 Doctor, Ken, 302 Doheny, Edward, 61 Donovan, Hedley, 94 Dorsheimer, William, 45 Douglas, Michael, 93 Dow, Charles, 12, 48, 53, 80 Dow Jones & Company, 12, 62, 95, 154, 243–51; Murdoch’s takeover of, 273, 295–96; rise of business-news market, 47– 53; The Wall Street Journal: The Story of Dow Jones and the Nation’s Business Newspaper (Wendt), 38, 50 Dow Jones Industrial Average, 50, 147 Downie, Leonard, Jr., 253 Dreiser, Theodore, 24 Drew, Daniel, 108 Drexel Burnham Lambert, 92, 155 Eakes, Martin, 175 eBay, 242 Economist, The, 41–42 Economy of Abundant Beauty, An: Fortune Magazine and Depression America (Augspurger), 72 Edmonds, Rick, 308 Eggert, Kurt, 194 Eisinger, Jessie, 251, 286 Eisman, Steve, 165, 190–93, 209, 251, 258 Ellison, Sarah, 294 Emergency Relief Act, 68 Encore Credit Corporation, 238 Enron, 157–58, 257 enterprise reporting, 75 equity stripping, 165–69 Erie Railway, 108 Eselman, Jill, 227 espionage network, 34–36 ESPN, 151 European Securitization Forum, 221 Evans, Heidi, 207 Evans, Walker, 73 Evening Transcript, 58 Evolution of American Investigative Journalism (Aucoin), 107 exposure journalism: Ameriquest and, 206, 213–14, 230–38, 250, 279–80, 311; Associates/Citigroup and, 184–89, 251, 311; Bear Stearns and, 128–30; on Crowley, 110; in decline, 249; espionage network in, 34–36; evolution of, 26, 107–8; Faludi’s “The Reckoning,” 131–36, 248, 275, 306, 322n49; FAMCO and, 196–97; Fleet Financial Group and, 165–69, 176, 177–83, 311; “The Giant Pool of Money” documentary, 278–80; Lord tracing path of MBS market, 226–28; Morgenson’s, 10, 91, 128–29, 275, 286; no substitute for, 135–37, 311; Tarbell’s classic, on Standard Oil, 18–21, 31–37; threats to, 291–97 See also accountability reporting Faber, David, 151, 154, 156–57 Facebook, 242, 301 Factiva database, 327n5 Fairbanks Capital, 204 Fall, Albert B., 61 Faludi, Susan C., 131–36, 248, 275, 306, 322n49 FAMCO (First Alliance Mortgage Company), 196–98, 212, 272, 277, 311 Fannie Mae, 4, 6; buying and packaging prime mortgages, 171; role in Crash of 2008, 228–29; transformation of, 167 Fast Company, 152, 154 FCC See Federal Communications Commission FCIC See Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 248, 277, 278 Federal Reserve Act (1913), 60 Federal Reserve System, 4, 56, 156, 198, 250, 271, 275, 277, 285 Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 198, 200, 204–5, 207, 250; Ameriquest customer complaints to, 232; Citigroup settlement with, 193, 210, 251, 311 Felt, W Mark, 114 Ferguson, Charles, 288 field theory, 141–42 Financial Chronicle, The, 45 Financial Corporation of America, 89 Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), 47, 229, 230, 250, 275 financial democratization, 154 financialization era, 217–18 financial journalism, 39, 42–50 Financial News Network, 149 Financial Times, 14, 49, 153–54, 218–25; as investigative watchdog, 327n5 Fink, Katharine, 90, 111 Fink, Larry, 171 First Alliance Mortgage Company (FAMCO), 201, 204, 277;-Chisick settlement, 198; Lehman Brothers with, 196; New York Times exposé on, 196–97 First Franklin, 238 First Jersey Securities, 89, 234 Fishbein, Allen, 173 Fisk, Jim (“Diamond Jim”), 108 fixed interest rates, misinformation about, 213–14 Fleet Financial Group, 165–69, 176, 177–83, 311 Fleet/Norstar Financial Group, 165–69 FON See Future of News Fools Gold (Tett), 241 Foord, John, 107 Forbes, 245–46; as investigative watchdog, 327n5 Forbes, B C (“Bertie”), 75, 76 Forbes, Malcolm, 86–87 Forbes 400, 88 Forbes Magazine, 2, 5, 75, 84–91, 96–99, 128–30, 206 Fortune Magazine, 2, 12, 68–99, 125–26, 151, 157, 245, 254, 263, 265–67; as investigative watchdog, 327n5 Fox Network, 245 Franklin News-Post, 103 Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), 4, 6, 167, 169, 228–29 Freedman, Alix M., 124–25 French and Indian War, 107 Frenzied Finance (Lawson), 57 Frick, Henry Clay, 75 Friedman Billings & Ramsey, 197 FTC See Federal Trade Commission Fugger, Joseph, 40 Fuld, Richard, 162, 163, 260–61, 285 Future of News (FON), 15 Gannett, 112, 291, 292 Gans, Herbert J., 140, 210 Gaussian copula function, 220 Gawker, 300–301 geeky silos, 224 Geithner, Tim, 162 General Electric, 138, 148, 280 General Motors, 84, 257 “Gestation Period of a Llama, The” (Vaughn), 296–97 Getschow, George, 116–17 “Giant Pool of Money, The,” 278–80 Gibson Greetings, 127 Gilleran, James, 218 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The (Larsson), 39 Glass-Steagall Act, repeal of, 169, 216–18 Global Crossing, 155 global debt markets, 269, 270, 273 Golden West, 255 Goldman Sachs, 3, 10, 159, 264, 266, 274, 275, 280, 281, 286 Goldsmith, James, 130–31 Goldstein, Matthew, 286 Gomber, Bill, 62 Google, 7, 242 Gould, George Jay, 76 Gould, Jay (father), 45, 51, 108 government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), 229–30; Wall Street banks allowed to bypass, 167–68 Graham, Katharine, 34, 113, 119 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (1999), 169 Grant, Ulysses S., 51, 107 Grant and Ward, 51 Graphic, 45 Great Story, 9, 11, 91, 93; future of, 310–11; Kilgore on, 12, 66 Great-West Life, 227 Greenberg, Herb, 157 Greene, Clifton, 159 Greene, Greg, 81 Greene, Robert W (“Bob”), 113, 114, 117 Greenlining Institute, 235 Greenspan, Alan, 13, 198, 218, 257 Green Tree Financial, 192, 212 Gregoire, Christine, 207 Gresham’s Law, 237 Griffeth, Bill, 151 Grimes, William H., 80 Grubman, Jack, 264 GSEs See government-sponsored entities GT Interactive Software Corporation, 126 Guardian, 297, 301–2 Gutfreund, John, 94 Habitat, 206 Haines, Mark, 151, 158 Hambrecht & Quist LLC, 126 Hamster Wheel theory, 246, 247, 248, 300 Harper’s Bazaar Magazine, 22, 110 Harper’s Weekly, 107 Harriman, E H., 52 Harrington, Michael, 111 Harris, Benjamin, 107 Harris, Roy J., 109–10 Harriton, Matthew, 129 Harriton, Richard, 129 hatbox (Barron’s), 58–59 Hawke, John, 203 Hearst, William Randolph, 26, 29, 107–8 Hechinger, John, 205 Helyar, John, 92 Henriques, Diana, 3, 196–97, 241, 272 Henry Havemeyer Sugar Trust, 18 Here Comes Everybody (Shirky), 299 Herman, Edward S., 106–7, 140 Hill, James J., 52 Hilsenrath, Jon, 270–73 Historical Statistics of the United States, 42 History of Railroads and Canals of the United States, 46 History of the Standard Oil Company, The (Tarbell), 18–21, 31–37 Hitchens, Christopher, 144 HMDA See Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Hobson, Wilder, 70 Hoffa, Jimmy, 103 Hofstadter, Richard, 2, 24–25, 32–33, 80, 256 Hogate, Kenneth C (“Casey”), 76, 80 Holder, Eric, 288 Holland, Max, 114 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) (1975), 239 Hoover, Herbert, 68 Hoover, J Edgar, 110 Horwitz, Tony, 124 Household Finance, 5, 192, 201, 206, 212, 226, 251 Housing and Urban Development Act (1968), 167 housing bubble, 213, 228, 240, 242, 249, 287, 327n5; Wall Street Journal on, 254 “How ‘Subprime’ Killed ‘Predatory’” (Longobardi), 173 How the Other Half Lives (Riis), 108 H&R Block, Inc., 206, 259 HSBC Group, 209, 251 HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S.), 198, 207;-Justice Department report, 174, 175–76 Hudson, Michael, 5–6, 13, 100–105, 118, 201–11, 251, 264, 277, 281; investigating from bottom up, 212–218; linking low-rent operators to Wall Street, 184–89; Lord and, 230;-Reckard muckraking series, 232–38; Wall Street investigation by, 268– 73 Huffington Post, 8, 291, 300–301 H V and H W Poor Co., 47 Hyman, Louis, 171 Icahn, Carl, 130–31 iceberg memos, 220 I F Stone’s Weekly, 111 Indianapolis Star, 114 Indian reservations, 110 Indicator, 45 IndyMac, 213–14, 236, 238 In Fact, 111 initial public offering (IPOs), 125–26, 134, 189 Insana, Ron, 151, 159 insider journalism, 156 “Inside the Great American Bubble Machine” (Taibbi), 286 Institutional Investor, 138 Intel, 88 interest rates, misinformation about, 213–14 International Association of Publishers’ Employees Local 1096, 246 International Monetary Fund, 257, 268 Internet: bubble, 126–28, 157, 242, 262; news-gathering websites, 290; news-media business revenue siphoned by, 7; Tech Wreck, 13, 153, 155, 242, 290 investigative journalism, 171, 289; in business journalism, 106–7; CNBC on, 156; comparison of major newspapers, 327n5; in decline, 249; disappearance of, 199–200; high-profile libel cases vs., 123; Hudson and, 105, 184–89, 212–18, 232–37, 268–73; by late 1970s, 115–16; Levin-Coburn report, 229, 275–78; limits of, in 1990s and 2000, 126; muckraking in, 28– 30, 109–18; Murdoch vs., 291–97; news bureaucracies’ resistance to, 121–22; progressivism fueled by, 24–25; regulators use of, 208; scoops vs., 156–57, 246–48, 247, 249; story counts at Wall Street Journal, 246–48, 247, 249; subprime abuse examples, 205–6; two types of, 34; after Watergate scandal, 113–14; after World War I, 109–12 See also accountability reporting; muckraking/muckrakers investigative reporters’ trade group (IRE), 115–16 Investigative Reporting and Editing (Williams), 117, 118 Investment Dealers Digest, 195–96 IPOs See initial public offering IRE See investigative reporters’ trade group Iroquois, 107 ITT Industries, 192 Ivry, Bob, 274 Jarvis, Jeff, 9, 284, 300, 309 Jessup, John K., 73, 74 Johnson, Hugh, 78 Johnson, Lyndon B., 167, 171 Johnson, Simon, 290 Jones, Edward, 12, 38, 48, 53, 80, 141 Jones, George, 107 Jordon, Hamilton, 122–23 journalism of exposure See exposure journalism journalists: Great Story, 9, 11–12, 66, 91, 93, 310–11; left-liberal, 110; nonmainstream, 1–2; ownership impacting, 245; rightwing attack on, 123; Shirky on amateur, 303; watchdog, 1, 4, 7–11, 121, 200, 210, 224, 250, 260, 289, 327n5 See also specific types of journalism Journal of Commerce, 42 Journal of Occurrences (Adams), 107 Journal Register Company, 242, 300 J P Morgan, 222–23 J P Morgan Chase, 203–4, 264 See also Tett, Gillian J P Morgan Steel Trust, 18, 25 Jungle, The (Sinclair), 72 Justice Department, U.S., 95, 207, 231;-HUD report, 174, 175–76 Kann, Peter, 245 Kavoussi, Bonnie, 55–57 Kelly, Kate, 273 Kennedy, Joseph P., II, 180 Kennedy, Stetson, 110 Kerby, William E., 80 Kiernan, 48 Kilgore, Leslie Bernard, 77–83, 85–86, 111, 157, 319n37; on Great Story, 12, 66 Killinger, Kerry, 267, 276, 278 KKR See Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co Klan Unmasked, The (Kennedy), 110 Klein, Ezra, 290 Knickerbocker News-Union Star, 117 Knickerbocker Trust Company, 55–56 Knight-Ridder, 112 Knox College, Illinois, 21 Kocieniewski, David, 289 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), 131–32 Konczal, Mike, 290 Krueger, Ivar, 72 Krugman, Paul, 290 Ku Klux Klan, 110 LaFalce, John J., 198 LaFalce-Sarbanes Predatory Lending Consumer Protection Act, 198 LaGuardia, Fiorello H., 62 Landbank Equity Corporation, 102 Landmark Communications, 105 Landmark Media, 105 Lang, Gladys Engel, 118 Lang, Kurt, 118 Langley, Monica, 264 Larsson, Stieg, 39 Lawson, Thomas W., 57 Lay, Kenneth, 158 LBO See leveraged buyout left-liberal journalists, 110 Leger, Fernand, 70 “Legitimate Greatness of the Standard Oil Company, The” (Tarbell), 36 Lehman Brothers Inc.: Aurora Loan Services, 261; BNC Mortgage, 238, 261, 271; failure of, 3, 238–40, 260–63, 266, 271–72, 280, 285; relationship with predatory lending, 195–200; skewed compensation structures, 278; in Sorkin’s Too Big to Fail, 162–63 Lennon, J P., 37 leveraged buyout (LBO), 131–36, 292–93 Levin-Coburn report, 229, 275–78 Lewis, Michael, 92, 191, 192, 209, 258, 286 Lewis, Will, 154 Liar’s Poker (Lewis), 92 Lipin, Steve, 138–39, 140, 145, 148, 154, 159, 160 Lippmann, Walter, 1, 6, 8, 14 Little, Rob, 195 Litton Industries, 87 Lloyd, Edward, 41 Lloyd, Henry Demarest, 35, 108–9 Lloyd’s List, 41 loan-sharking: Miss Cash mascot, 102, 166, 170, 212, 232, 270; predatory lending and, 102, 167, 171 Loewenthal, Henry, 49 Lomas Financial Corporation, 191–93 London, Jack, 24 London Financial Guide, 49 London Royal Exchange, 49 Long Beach Mortgage, 231, 259 Longobardi, Elinore, 173, 174 Long Term Capital Management hedge fund, 192, 257 Loomis, Carol, 91, 94, 125, 264 Lord, Richard, 225–28, 230, 251, 252, 277 Los Angeles Times, 7, 89, 281, 288, 291; Hudson-Reckard’s series on Ameriquest, 232–38; long-form stories in decline at, 249; news staff cuts, 242–43; as watchdog, 327n5 Louisville Courier-Journal, 115 Lowenstein, Roger, 264 Luce, Henry R., 12, 69–75, 94, 111 M&A See mergers and acquisitions Macdonald, Dwight, 70, 73, 94 Mack, John, 250 MacLeish, Archibald, 68, 70 Madame Roland, 17, 23 Mad Money, 150, 155 mafia, 115–16, 234–35; exposé of Crowley, 110; Morgan mafia, 222–23 Magnetar LLC, 280–81, 286, 290 Magowan, Doris Merrill, 132–33 Magowan, Peter, 131–34 Mahar, Maggie, 147, 155, 156–57 Mankiw, Greg, 290 Manufacturing Consent (Herman and Chomsky), 106–7 Marsh, Reginald, 70 Martin, John Barlow, 110 Matson Line, 72 “Matter of Urgency, A” (Thomson), 284, 294 Maxed Out, 230 MBS See mortgage-backed securities McCain, John, 144 McClendon, Aubrey, 288–89 McClure, Samuel Sidney, 9, 17–19, 21–23, 31, 59, 85, 282, 305 McClure’s Magazine, 9, 17–37, 59, 64, 88 See also Tarbell, Ida Minerva McGeehan, Patrick, 205 McGraw-Hill, 74, 246 MCI WorldCom, Inc., 139, 148, 156–57, 216 McLean, Bethany, 157, 168, 237, 325n11 Media Monopoly, The (Bagdikian), 298 Media News Group, 300 Mellett, Don, 110 Melnik, Ted, 239 Mencken, H L, 110 Men Who Are Making America (Forbes, B.), 75 Merchants of Misery: How Corporate America Profits from Poverty, 188 mergers and acquisitions (M&A), 138–49, 161, 220–23, 261; dramatic rise in, 153 Merrill Lynch, 159, 195, 266, 274, 280, 281; First Franklin owned directly by, 238; Fortune’s coverage of, 125–26; news stories on, 96–99; public relations and personality of, 2–3; skewed compensation structures, 278 M&I See Money and Investing staff Miami Herald, 114, 286 Michaels, James W., 87, 88 Milken, Michael, 92, 95, 130–31, 155, 181; Businessweek cover story on, 90 Miller, Tom, 203, 207, 237–38 Minneapolis Tribune, 114 Mirror, 293 Miss Cash mascot, 102, 166, 170, 212, 232, 270 Mitchell, Charles E., 60, 215–16 Mitchell, John, 54 Modern Maturity, 173 Mollenhoff, Clark R., 103, 118 Mollenkamp, Carrick, 274 Money and Investing staff (M&I), 268 MoneyLine, 149 monopolies, 18–21, 31–37, 112–15; The Media Monopoly, 298; “The Story of a Great Monopoly,” 108–9 More They Told Barron (Barron), 60 Morgan, J P., 51–57, 90 See also J P Morgan Chase Morgan mafia, 222–23 Morgan Stanley, 2, 126, 249–50, 264, 280 Morgenson, Gretchen, 10, 91, 128–29, 275, 286 Morgenthau, Robert, 129 Morrison-Knudsen, 88 Morse, Samuel, 42 mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, 168–70, 195, 268, 280; flying blind, 240; Lord tracing path of, 226–28; Salomon Brothers pioneering residential, 212 mortgages: adjustable-rate, 254–56; boiler-room hard-sell of, 213–14, 230–36, 279–80; FAMCO and, 196–98, 212, 272, 277; Fannie Mae buying and packaging prime, 171; Freddie Mac, 4, 6, 167, 169, 228–29; GSE-, 229–30; Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, 239; New Deal reshaping of, 167, 216; Salomon Brothers securitizing of nonconventional, 168; understanding “risks,” 252; view of subprime, 254; Wall Street Journal on, 205–6, 209 Mozilo, Angelo, 237, 277 muckraking/muckrakers: business journalism abandonment of, 267–68; business journalism compared to, 20, 40, 57–58; demise and reemergence of, 109–12; goes mainstream, 111–18; Hudson-Reckard’s series on Ameriquest, 232–38; as journalism of exposure, 26; mainstream media among, 12–13; mixed reputation of, 28–30; as moralists, 21; progressivism fueled by, 24–25; Roosevelt’s coining of, 8, 28–29; thoroughly absorbed into mainstream, 120–21; Tichi on, 19; as true watchdog, 8–9; Year of the Muckrake, 114 Murdoch, Rupert, 59, 245, 273, 289–90; on accountability reporting, 8; accountability reporting vs., 291–97; on New York Times, 284 Murray, J Terrence, 176 Nader, Ralph, 110, 111 Naked Capitalism, 290 NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations), 152 Nashville Tennessean, 114 Nast, Thomas, 107 Nation, The, 298 National Arts Club, New York, 37 National City Bank, 215 National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) (1933), 78 National Public Radio (NPR), 280–81 Nationwide Mortgage, 204 Nazi-controlled businesses, 110 networked-journalism, 299 Neuharth, Al, 8, 291–92 Nevins, Allan, 35, 36 Newark Star-Ledger, 309 New Century Financial, 238, 268, 280, 285; deception and hard-sell, 213–14 New Haven Railroad, 60 New Haven Register, 242 New Orleans Times-Picayune, 307–8 News Corporation, 154, 273, 295, 296; Fox Network and cable news, 245; Guardian’s revelations about, 297; Wall Street Journal bought by, 245, 293 Newsday, 113, 114 News Sentinel, 116 Newsweek, 91 New York Associated Press, 41 New York Clearing House, 55 New York Daily News, 206–7 New Yorker, The, 91 New York Evening Post, 23 New York Public Library, 28 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), 47, 51, 52, 62, 98, 268; Bartiromo live from, 149, 151, 158–59; bond funds vs stock funds, 147–48 New York Sun, 107, 108 New York Times, 2, 3, 8, 10, 56–57, 114, 272, 284; Bank of New York probe by, 128; Citigroup coverage by, 205; FAMCO exposé, 196–97; on General Motors, 84; on Gutfreund/Salomon Brothers, 94; investigative assets of, 289; long-form stories in decline at, 249; McClure’s circulation compared to, 20; Morgenson’s story on AIG bailout, 10, 91, 128–29, 275, 286; Ochs on, 49; on railroad bonds, 45; shares plummeting, 245; Tammany Hall exposé by, 107 New York World, 107–8 Ng, Serena, 274 “Nine to Nowhere” (Horwitz), 124 NIRA See National Industrial Recovery Act Nixon, Richard M., 113–14, 171 Nocera, Joseph (“Joe”), 91, 95, 146–47, 237, 325n11; on 1970s inflation and deregulation, 168–69 NOLA Media Group, 307–8, 311 Northern Securities Company, 25, 51, 52 NPR See National Public Radio NYSE See New York Stock Exchange NY Velocity, 302 Obama, Barack, 288 O’Brien, Timothy L., 128 OCC See Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Occupy Wall Street, 195 Ochs, Adolph S., 49 O’Donnell, Larry, 142 Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), 4, 250; Spitzer’s battle with, 203–4, 207, 237 Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), 4, 198, 250 Opening Bell, 150 Oppel, Richard A., Jr., 205 Oppenheimer Funds, 190 Option One, 259 Organization Man, The (Whyte), 94 Osborne Chromatic Gravure Company, 70 Other Side, The (Harrington), 111 OTS See Office of Thrift Supervision Panic of 1901, 51 Parsons, Wayne, 40, 41 Partnoy, Frank, 126 Paton, John, 308–9 Paulson, Henry, 162, 163, 218, 274 Paulson, John, 258 pawn brokers, 167 Pearl, Daniel, 244 Pearlstine, Norman, 91 Pearson, Drew, 110–11 Pecora Commission, 62 peer production, 299 Peterson, Christopher, 311 Philadelphia Bulletin, 112–13 Philadelphia Inquirer, 114, 119–21 Philbin, Regis, 151 Philip Armour Beef Trust, 18 Phillips, David Graham, 24 Phillips, John S., 17, 21, 22 Phillips, Warren, 142 Pickens, T Boone, 130–31 Piece of the Action, A: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class (Nocera), 146 Pilgrim’s Progress (Bunyan), 28 Pimco, 218 Pinkerton, Stewart, 75, 87, 88 Pittman, Carolyn, 240 Pittman, Mark, 274–75 Pittsburgh, 225–26 Pixar Animated Studios, 126 Pizzolorusso, Glen, 278–80 Playbook newsletter/blog, 104 PM magazine, 110 Politico, 103, 144 Ponzi, Charles, 60, 110 Poor, Henry Varnum (father), 46–47 Poor, H W (son), 47 Pope Manufacturing Company, 22 Port Arthur (Texas) News, 115 Portland Oregonian, 309 Post-Dispatch, 110 Power and the Money, The (Dealy), 53, 96 power dynamics theory, 219–20 Power Lunch, 150 Predators’ Ball (Bruck), 92 predatory lending: “How ‘Subprime’ Killed ‘Predatory,’” 173; Hudson’s investigation, 268–73; Hudson’s linking of low-rent operators to Wall Street, 184–89; LaFalce-Sarbanes Predatory Lending Consumer Protection Act, 198; Lehman Brothers and, 261; loan-sharking and, 102, 167, 170–71; Miss Cash mascot, 102, 166, 170, 212, 232, 270; news coverage of, 327n5; political figures denouncing, 197–98; problem of defining, 173–75; states’ battle against, 202–3; World Financial Center as site of protest against, 194–95 See also subprime lending prime market, 167–71, 236 Prince, Charles O (“Chuck”), 205, 213, 265–66 Procter & Gamble, 127 progressivism, 24–25 ProPublica, 251, 280–81, 303 ProQuest, 152, 153, 324n21 Providence Journal, 48, 112 Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick (Harris), 107 Puck Magazine, 21 Pujo Committee, 25 Pulitzer, Joseph, 26, 45, 107–8, 110 Pulitzer Prizes, 112–13 Quick, Becky, 151 Quill, 117 racism and lending patterns: Boston Globe reporting on, 165–69, 177–83; Charlotte Observer reporting on, 239; “The Color of Money,” 172; conventional loans vs., 105; Delta Funding on, 207; equity stripping aimed at African American families, 165–66; inner-city foreclosure rate spike, 200–201; redlining, 172 radicalization, financial, 193 radio, 62, 304; “The Giant Pool of Money” documentary, 278–80; NPR, 280–81 Railroaded (White), 44 railroads, 44–46, 60, 108 Ramone, Joey, 151 Ranieri, Lew, 168 Real Estate Finance, 202 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) (1974), 168 recession, early 1990s: S&L debacle of late 1980s, 176–77; subprime lending after, 175–76 Reckard, E Scott, 232–38, 277 “Reckoning, The” (Faludi), 131–36, 248, 275, 306, 322n49 Reconstruction era, 107 Reddit, 303 Redfield, Peter S., 88 Red Hat Inc., 148 redlining, 172 Reese, Ben, 117 Regan, Donald, 96, 98 Register Citizen, 300 Reserve Fund, 146 Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), 176 Resource Northeast Inc., 165–69 RESPA See Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Reuter, Paul Julius, 49 Reuters, 142, 278, 286, 288–89 Revolutionary War, 107 Richmond News Leader, 103 Richmond Times-Dispatch, 103 Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act (1994), 169 “Right to Work, The” (Baker), 30 right-wing, accountability reporting attacked by, 123 Riis, Jacob, 108 Ring-tum Phi, 103 Rivera, Diego, 70 RJR Nabisco, 92 Roanoke Times, 13, 100, 103–5, 232 Robertson Stephens Inc., 126–27 Robinson, James, 94 robustness checks, 220 Rockefeller, John D., Sr., 18, 25–28, 37–38, 55, 76, 108–9; espionage network of, 34–36 Rockefeller, William (brother), 38 Rockwell, Norman, 77 Rogers, Henry H., 28 Rolling Stone, 116, 286 Roosevelt, Theodore, 8, 24, 54, 79, 208; “muckraker” coined by, 8, 28–29 Rotella, Steve, 275 Rothacker, Rick, 239 Roubini, Nouriel, 268 Roush, Chris, 3, 241, 242 RTC See Resolution Trust Corporation Rubell, Steve, 122 Rubin, Robert, 218 Rudnitsky, Howard, 89 Runnells, Bill, 102 Russian banks, 128 “Safe Car You Can’t Buy, The” (Nader), 110 Safeway, 131–37 Salmon, Felix, 290 Salomon Brothers, 92; New York Times on, 94; pioneering residential MBS, 212; securitizing and trading non-conventional mortgages, 168 San Jose Mercury News, 116 Santelli, Rick, 287 Sarbanes, Paul, 198 Sauerwein, Shirley, 148 Savings and Loan (S&L), 127, 250; crisis, 95–96, 102, 181–84, 266; debacle of late 1980s, 176–77; scandal, 127–28 Scharff, Edward E., 63, 142 Schiff, Jacob, 52, 75 Schudson, Michael, 90, 111, 113–14, 253 Schumer, Charles, 195, 198 Schwarzenegger, Arnold, 231 scoops: deal, 159–60; investigative reporting vs., 156–57, 246–48, 247, 249 Scurlock, James, 230 Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S., 4, 47, 95, 169, 200, 218, 250 securitization: conduits and top AAA ratings, 168; Eisman’s report on Lomas Financial, 191–93; reporting on, 327n5; subprime retail sales and, 169–70 Seigenthaler, John, 118 Seldes, George, 111 Senate Banking Committee, 62 seven dwarves, 178–80, 183, 212 Shaking the Foundations (Shapiro), 110 “Shame of Minneapolis” (Steffens), 30 “Shame of the Cities” (Steffens), 30 Shapiro, Bruce, 110 shareholder-defense stories, 46–47, 144–45 Sheeler, Charles, 70 Shepard, Stephen B., 89, 157 Shiller, Robert J., 41, 156 Shirky, Clay, 299, 303, 306 Siconolfi, Michael, 126, 272 Siddall, John M., 27, 208 Silent Spring (Carson), 111 Sinclair, Upton, 72, 117, 140 Singleton, William Dean, 300 60 Minutes, 180 Skilling, Jeffrey, 158 S&L See Savings and Loan Sloan, Allan, 89, 91 Smith, Yves, 290 social silences theory, 220, 224 Sorkin, Andrew Ross, 10, 154, 161–64, 162 Southern Exposure, 6, 265 South Improvement Company, 27 South Sea Company, 41 specialty lenders, 191 Spirou, Ike, 259–60 Spitzer, Eliot, 203–4, 207, 237 Sports Center, 151 Squawk Box, 149, 151 Standard Oil Company, 9, 18–21, 24–25, 31–38, 108–9 Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, 47, 203, 246; credit enhancements, 176; securitization conduits and top AAA ratings from, 168 Standard Statistics Bureau, 47 Star, the, 45 Starkman, Dean, 160–61 Steele, James B., 119–21, 123–24 Steffens, Lincoln, 20, 22, 23, 29, 30; C Adams echoed in work of, 108 Steiger, Paul, 243, 245, 294 Sterling Foster, 129 Stern, Richard, 89 Stewart, James B., 91, 92 Stewart, Jon, 3, 253 St Louis Post-Dispatch, 107–8, 114 Stockholder, The, 45 Stone, Oliver, 93 Story, Louise, 286 “Story of a Great Monopoly, The” (Lloyd), 108–9 Storytelling Step by Step: A Guide to Better Feature Writing (Blundell), 91 Stratton, Oakmont, 234 Street Signs, 150 subprime lending, 325n11; borrowers qualified for prime loans despite, 236; business press coverage of, 13–14; Businessweek on, 206; Citibank’s, 6; collapse of, 285; as Depression and New Deal innovation, 167; Eisman on, 165, 191–93; as exercise in salesmanship, 172; Forbes on, 206; foreclosures due to, 201–2; jump after early-1990s recession, 175–76; loan-sharking and, 102, 167, 170–71; Lord tracing path of, 226–28; precision of terminology, 175; retail sales and securitization, 169–70; Runnells on, 102–3; Wall Street Journal on, 205–6, 209 See also predatory lending Sundance Channel, 158–59 Swift Meatpacking Plant, 71 Taibbi, Matt, 286 “Take Care When the Sweet Taste of CDS Starts to Turn Sour” (Tett), 222 Tammany Hall political machine, 107 Tappan, Arthur, 42 Tarbell, Ida Minerva, 7, 9, 12, 22–23, 39, 54–55, 77, 85, 108–9, 141, 208; on Barron, 64; espionage network exposé, 34–36; fact gathering by, 27–28; The History of the Standard Oil Company, 18–21, 31–37; legacy of, 37, 197; with McClure’s, 17–37; on Roosevelt’s coinage of “muckraker,” 29 Taylor, Elizabeth, 87 Taylor, Fred, 142 Taylor, Lisa, 235 Teapot Dome Scandal, 61, 110 Tech Wreck (2000), 13, 153, 155, 242, 290 television: Bartiromo live from NYSE, 149, 151, 158–59; CNBC, 3, 13, 66, 149–58, 285; in comparison of news sources, 303–4, 304; Landmark Communications, 105; ownership and journalism, 245; stock market coverage, 152, 156 Tett, Gillian, 14, 241; advantage of outsider’s perspective, 212, 218–25 TheStreet.com, 150 They Told Barron (Barron), 60 This American Life, 280 Thoma, Mark, 290 Thompson, Peter, 42 Thomson, Robert, 284, 294 Thomson, Todd, 158–59 Thomson Financial, 153 Tichi, Cecelia, 19, 29 TILA See Truth in Lending Act Time, 114 Times Literary Supplement, 123–24 Time Warner, 140, 245, 288 Titan (Chernow), 26, 35 Tofel, Richard, 77, 319n37 Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves (Sorkin), 10, 161–64 Transamerica Financial, 192 Travelers Group, 216 Treasury Department, U.S., 198 Tribune Company, leveraged buyout of, 292–93 trusts, 18–21, 31–37, 108–9 Truth in Lending Act (TILA) (1968), 168 Tully, Shawn, 254 Twain, Mark, 28 Tweed, William, 107 Twining, Oliver, 65 Twitter, 9, 248, 303, 309 Tyco, 157 United Mine Workers, 54 United States Steel Corporation, 73 Unsafe at Any Speed (Nader), 111 USA Today, 8, 292 usury laws, state repeal or loosening of, 168–69 Van Anda, Carr, 49 Vanasek, James, 276 Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 108 Vaughan, Ann Davis, 295–97 Vietnam War, 167 Wachovia, 239 Waldron, Jessie, 58 Wall Street banks, 1, 4, 96, 213–14; allowed to bypass GSE, 167–68; business journalism view of, 263–64; financialization era, 217–18; Hudson investigation of, 268–73; Hudson’s linking low-rent operators to Wall Street, 184–89; Lord’s discovery of, as MBS funding source, 226–28; misleading corporate clients, 127; net-capital rule changed, 218; Occupy Wall Street protest against, 195; spinning and bribing by, 126; traditional underwriting overrun by hard selling, 13, 213–18 See also deregulation Wall Street Journal, 2, 12, 13, 20, 42, 50–59, 62–65, 79–83, 91–99, 114, 267, 293; in 1960s and 70s, 116; ad recession impacting, 243–44; CDO report in, 258–60; culture shift at, 245; Depression-era, 66–67; Enron coverage, 157–58; General Motors blacklisting of, 84; on Household Finance, 5; housing bubble article in, 254; as investigative watchdog, 327n5; on Lehman Brothers, 261–63; M&A department at, 138–39; mortgage industry role, 209; rise of, 85; Starkman at, 160–61; story counts at, 246–48, 247, 249; subprime mortgage stories by, 205–6; Tarbell’s installments covered by, 21 Wall Street Journal, The: The Story of Dow Jones and the Nation’s Business Newspaper (Wendt), 38 Wal-Mart, 289 Walsh, Ben, 278 Wartzman, Rick, 232 Washington Merry-Go-Round (Pearson), 110–11 Washington Mutual, 213–14, 250, 255, 266–67, 275–78 Washington Post, 34; cut backs at, 288; as investigative watchdog, 327n5; long-form stories in decline at, 249; losses at, 291; news staff cuts, 242–43; Watergate probe, 113–14 watchdog reporting, 1, 4, 121, 200, 210, 224, 250, 260, 289; comparison of, 327n5; in decline, 249; muckraking as true, 7– 11; threats to, 291–97 Watergate scandal, 113 Wealth Against Commonwealth (Lloyd, H.), 35, 108–9 Weil, Jonathan, 157 Weill, Sanford I., 204, 215–16, 264 Weisenthal, Joe, 290 Weiss, Gary, 129, 234–35 Wells Fargo, 213–14, 238, 277 Wendt, Lloyd, 38, 39, 50, 61, 64 Western Union, 45 Whalen, Bryan, 259–60 Wharton, Edith, 269 Wheelman, The, 22 White, James, 131 White, Richard, 44 White, William Allen, 18 white-collar law enforcement, 288 Whitehouse, Mark, 258 Whitney Museum of American Art, 70 Whyte, William Holly, 94 “Widow Backus,” 35 Wiggin, Albert H., 61 Will, George, 229 Williams, Paul N., 117, 118 Wilson, Harold S., 22 Wilson, James, 41 Wilson, Thomas, 75 Winans, Christopher, 87, 88, 90 Winnick, Gary, 155 WMC Mortgage, 278, 280 Wolff, Michael, 293 Woodlock, Thomas, 54 Woodward, Bob, 113, 144 “Workers Say Lender Ran ‘Boiler Rooms’” (Hudson and Reckard), 233 World, The, 45 WorldCom, 156 World Financial Center, 160, 194–95, 268 World’s Work, 69 World Trade Center, 244 World War I, 109–12 World War II, press complacency after, 111 “Worst Crisis since ’30s, with No End Yet in Sight,” 285 Wriston, Walter B., 216 Yahoo! Inc., 148 You Can’t Print That! (Seldes), 111 Zell, Sam, 292–93 ... and major mortgage lenders in the years leading up to the financial crisis of 2008 That s why the crisis came as such a shock to the public and to the press itself And that s the news about the. .. edited by Dean Starkman, Martha M Hamilton, Ryan Chittum, and Felix Salmon THE WATCHDOG THAT DIDN’T BARK The Financial Crisis and the Disappearance of Investigative Journalism DEAN STARKMAN COLUMBIA... generation of professionals had, in effect, grown up with this set of Wall Street firms and had put them on the covers of Fortune and Forbes, the front page of the Wall Street Journal and the New