Nathan Scandella (personal)

Media Bias - Not Left or Right, But Up

There are no green shoots. Not yet. More people are unemployed every month. Still. By 6-digit numbers. GDP is still contracting, per the most recent data. Consumer sentiment is still falling. So, why are we now in our fifth solid month of hearing about improving conditions in the mainstream media?

The answer is that the media is spinning the situation for us. Maybe out of a feeling of patriotism. Maybe out of a false sense of optimism. Maybe it's coercion from the corporate sponsors that own all major media outlets. They certainly don't benefit when readers find out that the economy is getting worse.

There are plenty of examples that this kind of spin happens. The treatment of the Iraq war by the media is a glaring one. We need only look at the Global Financial Crisis to see that our media does not do investigative journalism. That's the kind of reporting that exposes problems before everybody knows about them. The financial crisis was easy to see coming, if you only looked. If it's your job to look, it should be even easier. So, it's clear that the media does not have a sterling track record with respect to looking deep into important issues, and that they are also prone to spin-doctoring. I believe the "Green Shoots" theme running through the industry now is simply one more example.

A perfect manifestation of this is today's home page on CNN's Money site. For those of you accessing the link at some point in the future, here's the screenshot:

On a day when the stock market loses 2%, there's but a tiny concession to the news on the front page. Not even a headline, and not even the first in the list on the secondary titles. 2% in one day is a large sell-off. That is news. But, apparently, not news CNN/Fortune would like you to focus on.

Posted at 02:50PM Aug 17, 2009 by Nathan in Economics  |  Comments[0]