Margaret Brennan on Covering the Rajaratnam Verdict

Friday, 13 May 2011 10:36

Written by Talking Biz News

Scott Rubin of Benzinga.com talked with Bloomberg Television anchor Margaret Brennan about how the network has been covering the case of convicted Wall Street trader Raj Rajaratnam.

Here is an excerpt:

What are some of the resources that Bloomberg TV puts behind this story?

We literally had dozens of reporters from BloombergNews assigned to this story. There were 3 reporters in the courtroom covering the trial throughout the day and two editors back at headquarters. Their reporting informs all the multimedia outlets here. My Bloomberg Televison colleagues Su Keenan and Jon Erlichman were also tracking the story throughout the past few months. My team of 5 producers including Senior Producer Ben Geldon were all supporting our on air coverage

Today represents the biggest government crackdown ever on the hedge fund industry. Is the business media focused enough on hedge fund activities, and how do hedge funds impact individuals beyond the millionaires who invest and work at them?

Anything and everything that the hedge fund giants do is on our radar. The challenge with reporting on hedge funds is that the managers by and large do not benefit from press attention. They will speak to reporters that they respect and trust like my colleague Kathy Burton at BN. She has a team of 13 who are constantly talking to players in the industry and reporting on them. I first worked with her last summer when she had the exclusive news that Stan Druckenmiller was retiring after 30 years in the business. I often speak to hedge fund managers on background as well.