August 2000

Society Honors Financial Journalists

By Wayne Whalen

Bonnie Erbie and Cari Stein of PBS television, Ian McDonald of TheStreet.com, Ivan Solotaroff of Philadelphia Magazine, Kimberly Weisul of Interactive Week, and a team of Associated Press writers received this year's Excellence in Financial Journalism awards. The NYSSCPA presented the awards at its Annual Election Meeting and Dinner on
May 9 in New York City.

The annual award recognizes national and local reporters who have contributed to a better understanding of business topics. The Society presents awards in six categories: print under 1,500 words, print over 1,500 words, television, radio, electronic media, and wire services. The NYSSCPA General Committee on Public Relations reviews the entries and selects the winners.

Erbie and Stein won in the television category for the PBS program "To the Contrary," specifically an episode that addressed how women can prevent financial disaster in old age by saving for retirement and consulting CPAs and financial planners.

McDonald's award in the online category recognized "Go Home Already! Your After-Hours Trading Need-to-Know List," an article which focused on two little-known aspects of after-hours trading-limit orders and the order book-and made readers aware of the risks of trading in less-liquid after-hours markets.

Solotaroff received the award for print over 1,500 words for "The Day It Rained Money," an article on the millionaires and billionaires created by recent initial public stock offerings.

Weisul won the award for print under 1,500 words for "Breaking Up the Pool Party," an article addressing FASB's elimination of the pooling of interests accounting method, which has fueled the fast rise of many communications and Internet companies.