Don’t bend to the spin
Joann Muller
Joann Muller of Forbes offers a clear view of the meaning of General Motors’ Nov. 16 earnings announcement and its plans to repay its government loan early. She writes:
“But that won’t even begin to settle GM’s debt to taxpayers. Most of the $50 billion used to bail out GM is tied up in equity and, until there’s a market to publicly trade GM stock again, that investment is frozen.
There are plenty of experts who believe the money will never be repaid. The Government Accounting Office is among them. In a recent report, it said that for GM to repay its debt in full, it would have to achieve a market capitalization nearly 20% greater than the company has ever had.”
Her story also offers readers the context included in GM’s release, but lacking in some other news stories of the day: “The results are unaudited, and don’t comply with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) standards.”
Today’s Tip: Don’t bend to the spin.
Many news stories followed the tone set up by the press release – “we’re making progress now” – without balancing the early repayment and earnings news. Joann’s story leads with an objective look at the loan-repayment news and smoothly transitions to the earnings.
With multi-pronged stories, resist the temptation to toss in everything. Instead, lead with the news and bring in the other elements.
