How to Cover Wall Street

Wow. You know this economic crisis is really, really bad when the people actually reporting on it can’t even keep their jobs.

The bad business practices that have swept Wall Street isn’t even beneficial to the companies that it’s helping. In covering the financial meltdown, CNBC has garnered stellar ratings. The channels numbers in September were the best ever (in its 19-year history) and represented a huge increase from last year.

“CNBC in September, which Nielsen Media Research dates from Sept. 1-28, averaged 373,000 viewers during its business-day period. That was up 46% from last September’s 255,000 average and represented the financial news network’s best overall month with the daypart since March 2001.”

CNBC executives tout their prowess in the television business world to a sense of anxiety in the viewer saying, “When there’s an aggressive move to one extreme or the other CNBC engagement surges,” said Mark Hoffman, CNBC’s President. “Through much of this crisis fear has beat greed silly.”

But, now, The New York Observer is reporting that GE’s budget cuts are moving to CNBC.  The rumor is that the cut could be as large as 10 percent.

This is one of the first times that CNBC is feeling the cuts of its parent company. Previously, GE kept the cuts to NBC and cable network MSNBC.

“Back in October, NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker sent an e-mail to employees, informing them that roughly $500 million, or roughly 3 percent of the budget, would be cut across the company, focusing on “reductions in promotion expenses; in discretionary spending, such as travel and entertainment and outside consultants; and in staffing costs.”

Details of the layoffs have not yet been released—so whether or not on-air anchors or reporters are affected is unknown.

One thing I’m guessing? CNBC won’t be reporting these job cuts during tomorrow’s broadcasts.