Rankings of:• The Most Influential Financial Journalists• The Most Influential Financial News Outlets• The Most Respected PR Professionals

2

...is the second edition of an annual survey of financial journalists throughout the U.S. carried out by Gorkana Group in collaboration with Matt Ragas, Ph.D., and Hai Tran, Ph.D., both faculty members in the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chica-go. With nearly 500 financial journalists responding to this survey in November/December 2013, this study represents one of the largest investigations of the media representatives who set the business news agenda. The 2012 survey yielded 349 responses.

The 2014 Gorkana Survey of Financial Journalists...

Gorkana provides a range of products and services to both public relations professionals and journalists to help them connect and communicate more effectively. The findings of this study will be of interest to both public relations professionals and journalists.

3

Financial journalists’ outlook on the health of the U.S. economy has improved over the past two years, but still remains fairly cautious. Close to 45% of respondents hold a positive outlook, with nearly 42% neutral and the remainder holding a negative view. Financial journalists are similarly cautious on the outlook for the U.S. financial services sector with nearly half neutral (49%). Another 36% are positive and 15% are negative.

Financial journalists are slightly less positive on the health of the financial journalism field than they were two years ago. Nearly seven out of ten respondents are neutral (42%) or negative (27%) on the field. Three out of ten (32%) are positive. Layoffs at some major business news organizations in 2013 may have tempered financial journalists’ outlook on the profession. In 2012, 22% of respondents were negative.

Most Influential Financial Journalists: The New York Times columnist, DealBook creator and CNBC Squawk Box co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin was once again perceived by his peers as being the most influential financial journalist. Receiving the second most nominations was Jon Hilsenrath, Fed watcher and chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, and tied for third were fellow New York Times columnists Gretchen Morgenson and Paul Krugman. The New York Times once again dominates the top of these rankings.

Most Influential Financial News Outlets: Financial journalists continue to perceive The Wall Street Journal as the most influential financial news outlet. Following behind The Journal was Bloomberg News, the New York Times, the Financial Times and news agency Reuters. The Financial Times edged up a spot in the rankings this year, while Reuters moved down a notch. Two online-only media outlets made the top-ten this year: Yahoo! Finance and Business Insider.

Most Respected PR Professionals: Based on the number of nominations made, Brandon Ashcraft of Barclays and Tucker Hewes of Hewes Communications are perceived by financial journalists as the most respected public relations professionals. Ashcraft also held the top spot in 2012. Other top names respected among financial journalists include Rosalie Berg (Strategic Vantage), Owen Blicksilver (Owen Blicksilver PR), Michael DuVally (Goldman Sachs), Kelly Holman (BackBay Communications) and Terry Rooney (Rooney & Associates).

Regarding story ideas, financial journalists rely the most on reading newspapers or other publications (nearly 70% use them frequently or very often), personal interest or that of someone on staff (48.3%), and corporate news releases (42%). The much-maligned news release is not dead. In terms of the credibility of information sources, financial journalists rank academics/experts the highest (57% rated very or extremely credible), followed by CEOs (54%), technical experts (53%), and financial/industry analysts (52%).

Key Topline Findings from the Study

4

Financial journalists’ outlook on the health of the U.S. economy and financial services sector has greatly improved over the past two years, although some caution remains. A plurality (45%) of surveyed journalists have a positive outlook on the economy over the next year, and another four out of ten (42%) are neutral. The remaining 13% hold a negative view. For comparison, in the 2012 survey, only 18% of financial journalists held a positive outlook, almost half were neutral (46%), and more than a third (36%) were negative.

Outlook on the U.S. Economy13%

negative

42%NEUTRAL

45%positive

5

Journalists are slightly less positive on the outlook for the U.S. financial services industry than the overall economy. Almost half (49%) are neutral, more than three out of ten (36%) are positive, and 15% are negative. That said, attitudes have improved since the 2012 survey, which found a much higher level of negatives (44%). At that time, only 15% of those surveyed were positive and 41% were neutral. The modest outlook financial journalists hold about the economy and financial services sector come after a year in which economic indicators improved only slightly, but the stock market posted its best returns in more than a decade. For example, the S&P 500 index rose +30% in 2013, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained +27%.

Outlook on U.S. Financial services

49%NEUTRAL 36%

positive

15%negative

6

Conversely, financial journalists have turned slightly more negative on the outlook for their own profession since the previous survey. A majority (69%) of survey respondents are neutral (42%) or negative (27%) on the health of financial journalism in the U.S. and 31% are positive. In the 2012 survey, 44% were neutral, 22% were negative, and 33% were positive. This small uptick in negative opinion could be due in part to layoffs over the past year by major business news organizations like Bloomberg News, Thomson Reuters and Dow Jones. While the outlook for financial journalism remains stronger than in many other areas of journalism, these reductions do not help instill confidence.

Outlook on Financial Journalism 42%

NEUTRAL

31%positive

27%negative

There is a considerable drop off in the number of nominations for the media outlets that make up the remainder of the top-ten list of most influential outlets. Next on the list is CNN Money (5%) followed by Yahoo! Finance and The Economist (tied at 4%). FOX (3%) takes the ninth slot, while Forbes and Business Insider (tied at 2%) round out the top ten. Compared with the 2012 survey results, Yahoo! Finance and Business Insider are both new to the top ten. While these rankings continue to be dominated by media organizations with roots in traditional media, the emergence of Yahoo! Finance, the highly trafficked finance website, and Business Insider, the business news website started by former Wall Street analyst Henry Blodgett, speaks to the growing acknowledgment by financial journalists of digital media’s ascendance.

Top 10 Most Influential Financial News Outlets

Finally, while Bloomberg News has received its own share of negative press this year , this does not seem to have impacted how financial journalists perceive its level of influence. Bloomberg News retained its second place spot in the rankings, and on a percentage basis, its nominations among respondents this year (58%) and last (60%) were very similar. The move-up in the rankings by the Financial Times comes amidst rumors in the past year that Pearson could sell the newspaper as part of a strategic refocus of its education business.

The Wall Street Journal, which has covered business news for more than a century, is perceived by financial journalists as being the most influential financial news outlet. More than eight out of ten (83%) of the surveyed journalists nominated the WSJ. Respondents were allowed to nominate up to three media outlets, and a total of 1309 nominations were made. Receiving the second most nominations was Bloomberg News (nominated by 58% of respondents). Rounding out the top three was The New York Times (31%) with some respondents specifically citing the NYT’s DealBook column. While the ranking of the top three is identical to the results of the 2012 survey, this year’s survey sees the Financial Times (21%) move ahead of Reuters (19%). CNBC is close behind with nominations by 17% of respondents.

7

Media Outlet % Nominating 2013 Rank

2012 Rank

The Wall Street Journal 83% 1 1Bloomberg News 58% 2 2the New York Times 31% 3 3Financial Times 21% 4 4thomson Reuters 19% 5 4CNBC 17% 6 5CNN Money 5% 7 n/rYahoo! Finance 4% 8 (tie) n/rThe Economist 4% 8 (tie) 8FOX 3% 9 9Business Insider 2% 10 (tie) n/rForbes 2% 10 (tie) 10

Top 10 Most Influential Financial News Outlets

8

9

28% (2012 - #1)Andrew Ross SorkinNYT / CNBC1

2

3

3

4

4

5

17% (2012 - n/r)Jon HilsenrathWSJ

16% (2012 - #2)Gretchen MorgensonNYT

8% (2012 - 3)Michael LewisVanity Fair

8% (2012 - 7)Felix Salmon Reuters

7% (2012 - 5)Maria BartiromoFox Business

tied

tied

16% (2012 - #4)Paul KrugmanNYT

For the second year in a row, financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin was named the most influential financial journalist by his peers. Sorkin, the New York Times columnist, creator of DealBook, CNBC Squawk Box co-host and best-selling author (Too Big to Fail), was nominated by more than one out of four (28%) survey respondents. Receiving the second most nominations (17%) was Jon Hilsenrath, chief economic correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. Hilsenrath edged out Gretchen Morgenson (16%), the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times business columnist, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman (16%), who is also a New York Times columnist and author of The Conscience of a Liberal blog. Hilsenrath did not make the 2012 top-ten list, while Morgenson moved down a spot in the rankings and Krugman gained a spot. With the markets intensely focused on interest rates and Federal Reserve policy over the past year, Hilsenrath often became the go-to source on the Fed.

Following behind Morgenson and Krugman in order of the number of nominations were: Michael Lewis (8%), the best-selling author (Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World and The Big Short) and Vanity Fair contributor; Felix Salmon (8%), the finance blogger for Reuters; Maria Bartiromo (7%), now of Fox Business and previously for 20 years at CNBC;

Most Influential Financial Journalists

Top 10

10

6% (2012 - #5)Jim CramerCNBC / TheStreet

3% (2012 - n/R)Joe Weisenthal Business Insider

5% (2012 - #10)David WesselThe Wall Street Journal

6

7

7

8

9

tied5% (2012 - #9)Matt TaibbiRolling Stone

4% (2012 - n/r)Matt WinklerBloomberg News

10

10

10

tied

tied

2% (2012 - n/R)Gillian Tett Financial Times

2% (2012 - n/R)Martin WolffFinancial Times

2% (2012 - n/R)Heidi MooreThe Guardian

Jim Cramer (6%), host of CNBC’s Mad Money and TheStreet contributor and co-founder; David Wessel (5%), economics editor for The Wall Street Journal; and Matt Taibbi (5%), a contributing editor for Rolling Stone who covers Wall Street and finance.

Rounding out the top-ten and new to the rankings this year are Matt Winkler (4%), co-founder and editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News; Joe Weisenthal (3%), the lead financial blogger and executive editor of the fast-growing Business Insider website; Gillian Tett (2%), markets and finance commentator and assistant editor for the Financial Times; Martin Wolff (2%), chief economics commentator at the Financial Times; and Heidi Moore (2%), finance and economics editor of the U.S. edition of The Guardian.

Most Influential Financial Journalists

Top 10

11

Based on a total of 239 total nominations submitted by financial journalists, Brandon Ashcraft of Barclays and Tucker Hewes of Hewes Communications were named the most respected financial public relations professionals of 2014. Respondents were asked to name three financial PR professionals they respect most, and both Ashcraft and Hewes received four nominations. Ashcraft was named the second most respected PR professional by financial journalists in the 2012 survey. Hewes did not make the 2012 list, while Pen Pendleton (now of Gard Avenue Communications), tied for first among PR professionals in 2012, dropped off the list this year. Following close behind Ashcraft and Hewes were Rosalie Berg (Strategic Vantage), Owen Blicksilver (Owen Blicksilver Public Relations), Michael DuVally (Goldman Sachs), Kelly Holman (BackBay Communications), and Terry Rooney (Rooney & Associates) with three nominations each. Other financial PR professionals who received multiple nominations were Jennifer Connelly (Jennifer Connelly Public Relations), Dean Davison (Lockton Companies), Chris Faile (Deloitte LLP), Josh Inglis

(Propllr), Jason Lahita (FiComm Partners), Steve Lipin (Brunswick Group LLP), Charlyne McWilliams (William Mills Agency), Hedda Nadler (Mount & Nadler, Inc.), Oksana Poltavets (Deutsche Bank), George Sard (Sard Verbinnen & Co.), Allan Schoenberg (CME Group Inc.), Aaron Siegel (MacMillan Communications, Inc.), and Paul Verbinnen (Sard Verbinnen & Co.).

Blicksilver and Poltavets also made the list last year. A notable shift in the nominations this year was towards PR professionals working for outside agencies and communication advisers rather than on in-house communication teams. The only financial institutions with professionals who rated were Barclays, CME Group, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs.

Most Respected Financial Public Relations Professionals

12

1

2

3

Most Respected Financial Public Relations Professionals

2014 Rank FINANCIAL PR PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION# OF

NOMINATIONS 2012 RANK

Brandon Ashcraft Barclays 4 (tied) 2

Tucker Hewes Hewes Communications 4 (tied) N/R

Rosalie Berg Strategic Vantage 3 (tied) N/ROwen Blicksilver Owen Blicksilver PR 3 (tied) 3Michael DuVally Goldman Sachs 3 (tied) N/RKelly Holman BackBay Communications 3 (tied) N/RTerry Rooney Rooney & Associates 3 (tied) N/R

Jennifer Connelly Jennifer Connelly PR 2 (tied) N/RDean Davison Lockton Companies 2 (tied) N/R

Chris Faile Deloitte LLP 2 (tied) N/RJosh Inglis Propllr 2 (tied) N/RJason Lahita FiComm Partners 2 (tied) N/RSteve Lipin Brunswick Group LLP 2 (tied) N/RCharlyne McWilliams William Mills Agency 2 (tied) N/RHedda Nadler Mount & Nadler, Inc. 2 (tied) N/ROksana Poltavets Deutsche Bank 2 (tied) N/RGeorge Sard Sard Verbinnen & Co. 2 (tied) N/R

Allan Schoenberg CME Group Inc. 2 (tied) N/RAaron Siegel MacMillan Communications 2 (tied) N/RPaul Verbinnen Sard Verbinnen & Co. 2 (tied) N/R

13

reading newspapers or other publications (70%) personal interest or that of someone on staff (48%) corporate news releases (42%) U.S. government news releases (36%) readers/viewers/listeners’ emails or phone calls (28%)

Financial journalists use a variety of sources for story ideas. Respondents indicat-ed that they frequently to very often use the following sources when reporting financial news:

Usage of Sources for Story Ideas

The list of the five most frequently used sources remains similar to that of the 2012 survey results, but there are some changes in the rank order. According to this year’s data, financial journalists make more use of corporate and government news releases. These two sources take the third and second spots, pushing audience inputs down to the fifth position. Over-all, the practice of monitoring the news, following colleagues’ work, and pursuing one’s own interest prove to be the most important components in developing story ideas.

#1 | Reading newspapers or other publications

#2 | Personal interest or that of someone on staff

#3 | Corporate news releases

#4 | U.S. government news releases

#5 | Readers/viewers/listeners’ emails, phone calls

#6 | Non-corporate social media

#7 | News releases from non-profit organizations

#8 | PR person who pitches a story

#9 | Expert request services (e.g., HARO, ProfNet)

#10 | Corporate social media

#11 | University news releases

0 20 30 40 50 60 7010

20142012Us

age o

f Sou

rces

for

Stor

y Id

eas

59%70%

45%48%

29%42%

32%36%

32%28%

22%16%

14%15%

13%14%

10%11%

5%8%

8%8%

14

15

technical experts in a company (53%) financial/industry analysts (57%)

Financial journalists perceived information from academics/experts (57%) and company CEOs (54%) as highly credible, while fewer respon-dents perceived non-profit representatives (17%) and company public relations professionals (14%) as highly credible sources. The majority of journalists also consider two other sources to be “very to extremely credible”:

Usage of Sources for Story Ideas

Journalists’ evaluations of source credibility this year are comparable to the previous survey, except for the rise of academics/experts as the most credible source of information. This finding is in agreement with the results of the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer, in which informed publics also ranked academics/experts on top. It is noteworthy that financial jour-nalists did not rate their peers as highly as in the Edelman survey, while they perceived CEOs more positively.

CRED

IBILI

TY o

f INF

ORMA

TION

FROM

SOU

RCES

16

#1 | Academic/Expert

#2 | Company CEO

#3 | Technical expert in company

#4 | Financial/Industry analyst

#5 | News professional

#6 | Government official

#7 | Regular employee

#8 | NGO representative

#9 | Company PR professional

0 20 30 40 50 60 7010

20142012

50%69.7%

46%

47%

47%52%

32%28.1%

30%30%

14.2%15%

13.4%17%

14%10.5%

8.3%

7.6%

57%

54%

53%

37%

25%

17%

15%

17

To gain insight into the usage and perceived credibility of information from PR professionals, a new question added to the survey this year asked financial journalists what PR professionals can do to build better relationships with them. 167 respondents shared ideas. Based on an analysis of these open-ended responses, the following five distinct themes emerged (in no particular order):

Building Better Relationships with Financial Journalists

1 Always tell the truth.

2 Be more responsive and provide better access to sources.

3 Pitch ideas that are newsworthy and leverage news trends.

4 Build better knowledge of journalists’ beats and audiences.

5 Gain better knowledge of company/industry you are representing.

18

1ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH

19

2“Actually respond to questions.”

“Respond promptly, know your companies and products and the industry, do not try to control the message.”

“Be more available, especially if you are listed as a contact on a press release.”

“Respond quickly and thoroughly to inquiries.”

“Respond quickly with useful information.”

“Open and unimpeded access to clients.”

“Connect me with sources. Be more responsive.”

“Have a regular conversation about new and existing clients. Try to let a reporter have inside scoops on new products, new hires. Allow reporters informal access to senior managers on routine basis.”

“See opportunities in reporters asking for interviews. Stop asking to clear quotes. It’s either on or off the record.”

BE MORE RESPONSIVE & provide better access to sources

20

“Think about how your client fits into emerging news trends and events and then present this thinking in a pitch to a busy journalist. If your client or the product you represent is part of a legitimate news trend, a journalist is more likely to listen and respond to the pitch.”

“Pitch only serious topics that can generate actual news.”

“Write releases that relate to overall trends, themes, rather than being blatantly self-serving.”

“Explain the significance of the stories you are pitching with a greater level of detail, with an understanding of who the main audience is for the outlet they are contacting.”

“Only pitch stories when you have a good angle or timely hook. Make sure you’ve got comprehensive details in releases and correct information.”

“Pitch intelligent story ideas, based on trends or bigger picture events rather than mere corporate self-serving angles. Help us understand new trends.”

“Draw close/closer connections between your organization and issues of demonstrable importance to financial journalists.”

“Understand what journalists need and be open to providing real information, not just fake news stories.”

“Send story pitches that are relevant to my beat, know the necessary ingredients for a good news story, prepare clients for better interviews.”

3PITCH IDEAS THAT ARE NEWSWORTHY & LEVERAGE NEWS TRENDS

21

4“Learn about the subject areas journalists cover. Stop inundating them with mass, worthless press releases and thoughtless story ideas that do nothing but waste their time and demolish the credibility of PR people.”

“Better research of the journalists to whom you’re pitching so the story pitches match what the reporter covers.”

“Have a good understanding of the websites I oversee and pitch me stories that are relevant.”

“Pitch things that are on my beat and that I would be interested in writing.”

“Pitch relevant stories. Many PR folks who pitch are junior level and may not be acquainted with the beat of the journalist they’re pitching.”

“Know the beats of the journalists and publications you are targeting. This is somewhat less of a problem with financial/business PR people, but definitely a big problem with consumer PR.”

“Understand the specializations of the publications and reporters.”

“Research the news outlet *before* you pitch (e.g. I write for a trade pub, and I get a lot of pitches that really aren’t of much interest to the people who read our paper). Talk to us like human beings.”

“Know the beats the journalists cover. I hate getting press releases about topics I do not cover.”

build BETTER KNOWLEDGE OF JOURNALISTS’ BEATS & AUDIENCES

22

5“READ WHAT WE WRITE ABOUT…and pitch ONLY stories that are related to what we do. AND, most important, LEARN EVERYTHING YOU CAN ABOUT THE COMPANY YOU ARE REPRESENTING.”

“Provide actual answers to queries instead of pitches. Provide facts along with contact info of expert.”

“Speak and understand the language.”

“Have more professional credentials, not just PR creds.”

“Sort through and pitch only newsworthy stuff, understand the finance and technology behind it, place it in context in the marketplace, facilitate connections with people in the company.”

“Know your subject matter, know why I’d be interested in it, be able to put experts on the phone.”

“Learn your material before writing or speaking on a subject. Most are 20-somethings who don’t know their clients, their industry or their topic. It’s rare to find someone in PR who can write coherently and follow through with getting the right people in touch with me.”

“Provide useful, accurate information. Be knowledgeable.”

“Concentrate on developing expertise in a company or subject area and try facilitating reporters’ access to decision makers.”

BETTER KNOWLEDGE OF COMPANY/INDUSTRY YOU ARE REPRESENTING

23

This national online survey includes responses from 494 U.S.-based financial journalists working for different media outlets. The participants constitute a diverse group of experienced professionals, who specialize in covering financial news. More than 92% of respondents indicated that financial journalism was a major focus of their work. Journalists from news organizations such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, AFP, Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, Thomson Reuters, Associated Press, Forbes, Fortune, The Economist, U.S News and World Report, Marketwatch, CNBC, CNN, NBC, NPR, various business journals from around the country, and freelance journalists specializing in financial services all participated in the survey.

An average respondent has nearly 13 years of professional experience. In addition to responses from 125 participants who identified themselves as reporters/writers, within the survey are the opinions of individuals working in the newsroom as senior editors, columnists and producers, specifically:

Respondent Profile

• 106 with editor/editorial staff in their job title

• 31 columnists • 11 producers/news directors

More than 46% of the respondents reported working for major news organizations with more than 50 reporters/editors on staff, and nearly 33% indicated they were affiliated with small media outlets (fewer than 10 reporters/editors.) Almost half (49.5%) of all respondents primarily publish their work online. Several others cover finance-related news for traditional outlets such as:

• magazines and trade publications (18%)• newswires (16%)• newspapers (14%)• television/radio stations (3%)

With respect to geography, there is a concentration of respondents in the Northeast, where many of the major financial centers are located. Of the 270 respondents who shared information about their work location, almost 64% reported being based in the Northeast,

11% in the West, 10% in the Midwest, 10% in the Southeast, and 5% in the Southwest.

In terms of demographics, the average age of the financial journalists is 42. The majority of the respondents are Caucasian (89%), while some belong to minority groups such as Asian/Pacific Islander (4%), Hispanic or Latino (3%), mixed race (3%) or African-American (1%). Among those who identified their gender (284 of the 494 surveyed journalists), the ratio of male to female is about 60/40.

Overall, participants in the 2014 survey share similar work-related and demographic characteristics with the 2012 sample of financial journalists. It should be noted that respondents this year included larger numbers of senior journalists, professionals working in big newsrooms, and those who primarily publish their work on the Web.

24

Gorkana maintains a database of 5,283 professionals covering financial news in the United States. This list represents the true population of U.S.-based financial journalists, considering that the Society of Business Editors and Writers (SABEW), the largest organization of business journalists, has nearly 3,700 members in the U.S. and Canada.

The data for this report come from a self-administrated online survey of a representative sample of all financial journalists listed in the aforementioned Gorkana database. The survey was open from November 12, 2013 until December 13, 2013. An email invitation was sent directly to these journalists, asking them to complete the survey. 494 respondents participated in the survey. The total sample size benchmarks at a high degree of accuracy with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of ± 4.2 percentage points.

METHODology

25

Gorkana offers a range of products and services to public relations professionals and journalists to help them connect and communicate more effectively. Our clients become part of our unique community. This connects them to everything from industry experts and the latest news, insights and events, jobs and journalists, not to mention our own essential media intelligence services. It’s why PR professionals and journalists rely on us every day. Whether they’re launching a campaign, managing reputations, announcing a new move, or needing around-the-clock response during a crisis, we help professionals keep up-to-speed, stay focused, and be connected to experts. Gorkana provides the personal touch and confidence clients need to make clear, informed decisions— and drive their businesses forward.

Contact Us

Rebeca DennyDirector (U.S.) Gorkana Inc. (646) 722-1200gorkanaus@gorkana.comtwitter: @GorkanaUS2 Rector StreetSuite 1201New York, NY 10006

ABOUT GORKANA group

Matt Ragas, Ph.D. DePaul UniversityCollege of Communication(407) 963-8763mragas@depaul.edutwitter: @mattragas1 E. Jackson Blvd.Chicago, IL 60605