CNBCfix, CNBC & General Electric
Posted: Saturday, May 9, 2009
What is CNBCfix's relationship with CNBC and General Electric?
None.
CNBCfix is a completely independent news and commentary Web site — devoted to the highest standards of journalism established by the nation's daily newspapers and news magazines — that covers subjects of interest to people who watch CNBC and/or are interested in business and media news.
CNBCfix has reported — alone — on CNBC's coverage of General Electric. CNBCfix believes CNBC's handling of General Electric news and commentary is absolutely newsworthy.
CNBCfix is not to be confused with similarly named Web sites (which surfaced after CNBCfix.com was founded in 2008) with monikers such as "fix CNBC," ad hoc operations designed to criticize the network's perceived shortcomings. CNBCfix is strictly devoted to real, independent journalism.
Some critics of General Electric or CNBC management have cited CNBCfix articles. CNBCfix is pleased to provide exclusive news material for its readers. However, CNBCfix has no position or agenda whatsoever regarding GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt, other company executives, or the company as a whole. The operator(s) of CNBCfix have no stock or financial position in General Electric shares.
It is the editorial opinion of CNBCfix — posted at this site — that Jeff Immelt, based on executive standards regularly discussed on CNBC, has not been particularly successful at GE, yet is virtually never criticized on CNBC unlike other CEOs (Steve Jobs health disclosures, Jerry Yang buyout resistance, Rick Wagoner union negotiations, financial CEOs whose stocks have plunged below $10, etc.). It has also been the opinion of this site that GE's business model has rarely if at all been questioned on CNBC. It matters not to CNBCfix how NBC Universal or GE are run, only that the company receives the same scrutiny as other companies on CNBC.
Those are professional journalistic conclusions, not a campaign of any sort.
There is overwhelming anecdotal evidence that Jeff Immelt is a fine and talented person with remarkable values in the corporate world. His stated goals might be best aligned with a newer kind of company such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, where someone of his skills would be able to try new ideas. That is a compliment here, not a criticism. Instead, he is in charge of a massive conglomerate, heavily relied on for its dividend stream, where the secret to boosting share price is a constant knack of recognizing undervalued and overvalued businesses and divisions and sometimes being ruthless about it. CNBCfix wishes Immelt, GE and its employees the best — and looks forward to watching more CNBC.