The Media’s Economic Reporting: It’s All About Perspective

• October 20, 2006

Perhaps you’re thinking you missed the huge celebratory headlines commemorating a record high closing on the Dow yesterday. Of course, you’ve missed nothing. Collectively the media have deemed this story hardly worth reporting. The robust condition of the economy fails to interest the legacy media.
A lot of people suspect that this is because the media hate George W. Bush and that therefore reporting on anything that could redound to Bush’s favor is out of the question. Politics surely does have something to do with it. If for some reason you choose to afflict yourself with Lou Dobbs’ nightly ignoramus-fest featuring his daily updates on “THE WAR ON THE MIDDLE CLASS,” you know that class warfare, xenophobia and complete economic ignorance have yet to be completely relegated to history’s ashbin.
But there’s another factor at work. For most Americans who work in most industries, the economy is chugging along quite nicely, thank you very much. But if you happen to work at a legacy media outpost, the good ship prosperity has left the harbor without you. Newsrooms across America are cutting staff and not giving raises. Circulation numbers (and ratings) continue to decline with no floor yet in sight. It’s understandable enough that if you work in the media, even if you happen not to be a raging-leftist-borderline-socialist, you’re probably having trouble perceiving that the rest of the country is enjoying prosperous times.

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http://Array robert108

Jack Ballinger: Hate to tell you this, but the stock market is not directly affected by inflation. The market goes up when the “buy” value exceeds the “sell” value, and goes down when the “sell” value exceeds the “buy” value. It’s really that simple, and has nothing to do with inflation. In fact, inflation tends to make the market go down. Thought you might like to know that.
http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

As a percentage of GDP it’s lower than average. It’s also lower than GDP growth so the debt is shrinking as a percentage of GDP.

I’d like to cut spending to balance the budget (as I’m sure you would Chad) but the deficit isn’t a big problem right now.
HG

Jack B.,

Thank God for the troops and their families who are willing to make sacrafices you libs won’t.

May God forgive the Bushies and the Repugnants who are their accomplices, because I, and most well read Americans, never will.

Did anyone ask for your forgiveness? I didn’t hear it, nor is it desired. You can keep your resentment if you like; it don’t hurt me or any other republican in the least.
http://bluecollarpolitics.com/ Jack Ballinger

Not everyone has benefited from the fact that, after 6 years, and if one does NOT account for inflation, the Dow passed the record.
And for some, including the children of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy is apparently not “chugging along quite nicely”

While we still have troops ducking bullets and trying to avoid IED’s in the midst of a civil war in which the 3 sides shoot at each other AND at least 2 of them will shoot at us, the families of our troops are begging for food!

Bush’s Baghdad Blunder has gone from tragic mistake to a horrific maelstrom of violence, with nobody hurt more than the innocent.

May God forgive the Bushies and the Repugnants who are their accomplices, because I, and most well read Americans, never will.
http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

Not everyone has benefited from the fact that, after 6 years,

We’ve got more opportunity in this country than any place on Earth. We’ve got more opportunity at this time than ever before.

Still someone’s got to whine because nobody’s taking care of them.

What more do you want, to live in Europe where if your unemployed today you’re probably going to remain unemployed?
http://www.valleydeals.com/cgi-bin/board2/YaBB.pl Kevin Flanagan

Misery loves company.
aNONOMISLY

Psyconomy 101:

It human nature for people to take credit for whats good in their life and try and blame other for whats bad. ..people doing economically well blame themself for it and minemize giving credit to the goverment, while people doing economically bad tend to place a great amount of blame of other (e.g. the Government and poleticians!)

the economy is a neutral issue when it is going well, but extemely bad for those in power when its going bad.

..Its also the ultimate local issue (i.e. voters in Ohio don’t care much about how the economy in NYC and is doing)
robert108

Chad: The “deficit” is essentially a phony issue. It is the amount the govt spends, minus the amount of money they confiscate from us. They owe us the money! If you want to shrink/eliminate the deficit, cut(not decrease the rate of increase) spending! Having said that, investing in govt debt is one of the good investments, so go figure.
http://angrychad.blogspot.com/ Chad

How’s the deficit doing?

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The Media’s Economic Reporting: It’s All About Perspective

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