Courtesy of Pam Martens.
I’d like to go on the record that I think tweeting is to journalism what Pop Tarts are to breakfast. And I’d like to go one step further: to explain why Twitter is coming to market as an Initial Public Offering (IPO) right now, requires long-form journalism.
Think about that. If an enlightened citizen is the best defense against a rigged Wall Street and a hollowed out democracy, how much enlightenment can one convey with a Twitter limit of 140 characters on your speech.
There are mushrooming signs that this stock market is being artificially hyped in much the same way that the dot.com mania was delivered to the public.
Consider this excerpt from the Wall Street paper of record, the Wall Street Journal, from two days ago:
“ ‘After all these years of the market going up, investors are getting reacquainted with equities,’ said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Investments, which manages $49 billion in Atlanta. ‘In a slower-growth environment, the newer names are much more likely to be disruptive. Disruptive companies are more likely to grow their top line at a fast pace.’ ”
The operative words of market hype here are “After all these years of the market going up.” Let’s take stock for a moment. Suggesting that the market has been on a relentless upward trajectory for a long period of time is like saying the moon is made of cheese – it flips reality on its head.
Just how destructive the stock market has been to wealth accumulation for the little guy was captured in this seminal piece by E.S. Browning in the Wall Street Journal on March 26, 2008 under the title: “Stocks Tarnished by Lost Decade.” The reporter correctly noted:
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