Addressing corporate executives and some of the University of Wisconsin's brightest and most promising student leaders, Charles Gasparino offered insight into the highs and lows of corporate America Monday.

Gasparino, a business reporter for CNBC who provides up-to-the-minute reports on Wall Street, was also a senior writer at Newsweek magazine. Gasparino has been at the forefront of major financial scandals that have dominated news media recently.

Visiting Madison this week as UW's business writer in residence, Gasparino spoke to Accenture executives and student organization members from the LeaderShape Corporation, which develops future leaders of college and industry, at the Fluno center.

Using the recent firing of shock-jock Don Imus as a springboard, Gasparino delivered the message that corporate America today is increasingly reactive to the pressures of media.

"One of the real problems I have with corporate America today is that it's completely reactive to public and media pressure," Gasparino said.

He said CBS and MSNBC were forced to fire Imus because they would soon suffer economically from the unavoidable media backlash that erupted after Imus' comments. Gasparino, who appeared on Imus' show promoting his latest book, spoke to the media-fueled power of Imus' actions.

"Imus could make your book a bestseller, if you were a politician, he could launch your career," Gasparino said. "At Newsweek, when I was there, I knew guys that would kill each other to get on his show."

Jeff Wiesner, a former Accenture partner, agreed with Gasparino, saying the media is now driving the actions of businesses, further presenting some unique challenges to businesses everywhere.

"I really do think the media is a challenge to businesses with how fast information is traveling and how accessible it is," Wiesner said. "There's a vacuum that exists if there is an information error — every little glitch becomes a story."

Gasparino also received praise for his successful career and honest personality from UW students in the LeaderShape Corporation.

"He was very honest about problems that are pandemic in the business world," said David Lapidus, UW sophomore and a LeaderShape participant.

Nella Bernardoni, UW junior and Leadershape participant, said the lecture broadened her horizons on the Imus incident.

"The speech just made me realize that there are many different ways to look at a situation," Bernardoni said.

According to Gasparino, developing future leaders of corporate America could be tough in the current atmosphere of media reactive corporations, which are becoming more motivated by money each year.

"Business now is motivated less by doing what's good," Gasparino said. "Business leaders today need to stand up for something that's more than just the bottom line."