BizJournals Portfolio
Oct 04 2007 12:00am EDT

Fox Business, Broadcasting Live from Mayberry

It was hard to know exactly what Rupert Murdoch meant when he said the new Fox Business Network would be for "Main Street" rather than "Wall Street."

But a look at the network's website offers a clue: It will be folksy. Just how folksy? Why, as folksy as all get-out! (If CNBC starts dressing its talent in overalls and gingham, you'll know why.)

On the site, each FBN personality has a blog where he or she competes to see who can be the most salt-of-the-earth. Former stewardess Cheryl Casone scores big points with an anecdote about her Great Uncle Weldon and Great Aunt Rose, who lived through the Depression and kept their money in soup cans under their bed. Shibani Joshi recalls moving to New York from the Midwest: "It was a far cry from Oklahoma, that's for sure." Rebecca Gomez opts for self-deprecation, revealing her nickname (Gogo) and her Achilles heel (she's a klutz.) And David Asman, who seems to have written his entry in a rocking chair on the porch of a retirement home, muses, "Did you ever wonder why folks younger than 35 can figure out computers so quickly?"

Golly, did we ever!

But my favorite blog is Jenna Lee's, which begins this way:


I got an email from my aunt this weekend while standing in a line 10-deep at a Manhattan Starbucks. Ironically, she too was at a coffee shop -- but it certainly wasn't Starbucks. She was writing from Kathmandu.

A few lines later:

She signed her e-mail, "I'll drop you a note when I'm back in civilization -- maybe in about a month." Ironically, I've been signing my e-mails the same way.

Lee goes on to describe her "great, grandmother," who immigrated from Italy to San Francisco and earned her living sewing pockets into jeans. Years later, Lee enrolled in an executive training program at the same denim company. Ironically!


blog comments powered by Disqus
Real Business, Real Results

Fed up with stranded passengers and misleading Web ads, Obama's DOT cracks down on airlines.

The White House is too close to Wall St., just like its predecessors for the last 30 years.

With ad revenue and audience on the decline, newspapers look to e-readers as a new revenue path.

spotlight on

Holiday Outlook

Ten Best Holiday Gifts

From $700,000 watches to a $122,900 Olympics jet package to a $3 million bra, luxury gifts are still in demand this holiday season. View Interactive Feature