Welcome to the MEDIA MATTERS Online Poll. Please submit your answers and check back a few weeks from now. Once we've compiled the votes, our poll consultant will analyze and comment on the results. The questions below address some of the issues from the television program. In addition to these topics for viewers nationwide, your local PBS station might post questions relating to your community in particular.
Not long ago, a New Jersey teenager employed a clever publicity plan: He went to many investor chat-rooms and touted stocks he had bought at low prices. Acting on these "tips," many people purchased the stocks; when the values increased, the boy sold his shares -- often for a huge profit. The Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) fined him several hundred thousand dollars. His defenders say that he was merely using the Internet to do what others do through different media -- including television. What do you think?
His actions were egregious and deplorable. Comparing him to the financial
experts is shameful.
While analysts on TV may have given faulty advice, their intentions were not to
deceive. This distinguishes them from the teenager.
Most of the so-called "experts" have conflicts of interest in the
stocks they promote. What the teenager did is no worse.
This kid is smart. Can I give him my money to invest?