CNBC Tries Digging Out of Cramer Hype Hole, Bows 'Boom, Bust & Blame'

Look, CNBC, we applaud your new web series efforts but your years of sensationalist stock hyping isn’t going to get swept under the run that easy. The launch of the network’s new 10-episode web series this week, Boom, Bust & Blame, is a small start to deconstructing this mess of a financial crisis.

You got to love the poll that asks visitors to the site who is to blame for the financial crisis. Notably missing amongst the choices? These so-named ‘financial entertainment’ media outlets like CNBC itself. Apparently self-aware critical review is not part of the script.

This isn’t the first web series to tackle the issue, with the Wall Street Journal putting out The End of Wall Street series back in January. Incidentally, both series have a tie-in with one of their journalist’s books—the CNBC series plugs on-air commentator David Faber’s And Then The Roof Caved In.

The Blame site is full of background content worth checking out if you’re ready to dig into this thorny topic. There’s the mea culpa interview with former Fed chair Alan Greenspan, and the full version of the mortgage crisis House of Cards documentary that aired earlier this year.

The real thorn here is the Jim Cramer situation, the fast-talking stock picking host of Mad Money and CNBC staple. He’s notably absent from the 15 interviews with CNBC journalists on the site. CNBC appears to be trying to dial down his influence on its brand, presumably after Jon Stewart quite publicly denounced him for his careless stock pumping. In case you missed it: