From BW's Debate Room to CNBC Green Room

Posted by: John A. Byrne on July 01

This item was written by BusinessWeek’s user engagement intern, Greg Spielberg.

A big congratulations to BusinessWeek reader Alton Drew. This past Monday – June 22 – Drew joined economics professor Peter Morici on CNBC Reports to discuss President Obama’s proposal to increase regulation of industrial lending companies. Drew says a CNBC producer contacted him after she read his Feb. 18 MyTake guest column for us, “Banks ‘Too Big to Fail’? Wrong.” His opinion piece landed Alton atop our most-read story list in mid-February and, it turns out, on national television. Drew, an Atlanta-based law professor and policy analyst, hasn’t wavered in his critique of government intervention – whether it be winter bailouts or summer regulation.

Alton’s journey from our Debate Room to the CNBC green room exemplifies what I like to call “the mobile comment.” At BusinessWeek.com, we don’t expect comments to be two-dimensional, sedentary objects. They get batted around or propelled by other commenters, promoted through In Your Face and sourced as inspiration for our reporters’ stories. Our reader comments have a long tail, and in the case of Drew, one that caught the attention of Debate Room editor Rebecca Reisner (who asked him if he’d be interested in writing a MyTake for us), our readers (who catapulted his story to most-read pole position) and CNBC’s producer, who invited him on the show.

For an opportunity to get your own mobile comment started, check out our Case for Optimism blog. We are building a reader slide show that highlights well-supported signs of economic optimism, and the six most compelling observations or insights will make it into BusinessWeek’s August double issue. You can also share any “uncommon indicators” of an economic turnaround you spot in your business or community by tweeting us by using the #bizoptimism hashtag on Twitter.