The Enforcers describes the problems with business journalism and its possible future by focusing on the little-studied genre of the trade press. A historical and normative analysis of business journalism frames a case study about a small but extraordinary trade newspaper, the National Thrift News, whose aggressive reporting on the savings-and-loan crisis contributed to the downfall of a corrupt banker, Charles Keating Jr., chairman of American Continental Corporation and owner of Lincoln Savings and Loan. The National Thrift News offers broader lessons for mainstream business journalism in th ... More

The Enforcers describes the problems with business journalism and its possible future by focusing on the little-studied genre of the trade press. A historical and normative analysis of business journalism frames a case study about a small but extraordinary trade newspaper, the National Thrift News, whose aggressive reporting on the savings-and-loan crisis contributed to the downfall of a corrupt banker, Charles Keating Jr., chairman of American Continental Corporation and owner of Lincoln Savings and Loan. The National Thrift News offers broader lessons for mainstream business journalism in that its newsroom envisioned investigative reporting as a commercial and market opportunity; the editor’s part-ownership of the newspaper allowed the staff to take risks. The National Thrift News defied a long-standing narrative that trade publications are captive to the industries they cover; the case study provides new evidence of accountability and investigative journalism in the trade press. It explores the complex relationships and interactions between businesspeople and the press, how their fortunes can rise and fall as a result of similar economic forces, and how their roles in the capitalist system create tension and put them at odds with one another. This book makes the case that business journalism must evolve from its origins as market servant and become a market watchdog.