‘Qwestion’ & Answer with Barbara A. Friedberg, CEO Wealth Media

Qwoted is committed to exploring the current state of the media by speaking to industry leaders and educating future generations of media professionals. What has social media and technological innovation brought to the table? What can we expect for the future of journalism?

After years as a portfolio manager and university investment and finance instructor, Barbara A. Friedberg started two online financial media businesses, barbarafriedbergpersonalfinance.com and Robo Advisor Pros. She served as an editor and contributor to Personal Finance – an Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management and several other books. She’s written for many online publications including US News and World Report, Investopedia, InvestorPlace, and GoBanking Rates. Her work has been syndicated on MSN Money, Nasdaq, Yahoo! Finance, and Entrepreneur.com and she has been quoted on CNBC.com, CNN Money.com and more. Friedberg has been named a top 100 Wealth Management Influencer by Onalytica. While Friedberg admits that running a multi-faceted media company is challenging, she continues to enjoy writing about investing and finance. Ultimately, she enjoys the variety of the various facets of her work and credits on-the-job experience as her greatest teacher.

What advice would you give to aspiring young writers and reporters?

BF: Understand your audience and write for them. Choose a niche, as it’s much easier to become an expert, and specialization leads to greater opportunities. Be persistent and creative. There are fewer full time journalist jobs today than in the past, and exponentially more freelance jobs. Work as a freelance journalist can be fulfilling and profitable.

The profession of journalism feels more attacked today than in a long time, but also highly necessary. Do you feel that’s true, and if so, why?

BF: Healthy criticism is important. But today, it seems to have gotten out of hand. Unfortunately, political leadership has contributed to the confusion around true journalism and “fake” news.

What do you see as some of journalism’s biggest potential pitfalls? And what gives you hope for the future of journalism?

BF: Dealing with inaccurate reporting online is a huge problem for journalism. I worry that the extensive amount of available content makes it difficult for readers to discern between credible sources and inaccurate information. However, despite the decline of print journalism, online journalism and niche websites with high quality content are both expanding.

What do you think about the role of technology in journalism? Is it helpful? harmful? Something in between?

BF: I love technology. It gives readers and writers the opportunity to consume and produce excellent content rapidly and comprehensively. There’s more content than ever available. Swift internet service affords writers the ability to research articles rapidly and from a vast variety of sources. Technology like Qwoted streamlines the important job of connecting sources and journalists.

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