Jeff Poor's blog

Long-time CNN foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour still harbors some resentment toward the American media for the Iraq war.

In September 2003, Amanpour spoke out publicly and said CNN was intimidated by the Bush administration and Fox News, which "put a climate of fear and self-censorship." Over four years later, Amanpour is still disappointed with the media leading up to the invasion of Iraq.

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"I said it before and I'll say it again," Amanpour said. "I believe that we failed as a profession to do our duty which is simply to ask the hard questions, to stay on it, to fact check and to cross-check and to not take one version of the story hook, line and sinker."

Later Says He’d 'Bank on a Socialist in Brazil' more than 'a Republican'

It wasn't exactly one of CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer's most jovial appearances, but it was certainly interesting to see how he'd react to the big story of the day.

A dejected Cramer showed his disappointment immediately following reports New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was involved in a prostitution ring on CNBC's March 10 "Street Signs."

The New York Times reported on its Web site on March 10 Spitzer was involved in a prostitution ring and there has some speculation as to whether the New York governor would resign. Cramer pledged his support for his former Harvard classmate.

Fall behind on your mortgage? These days it's anyone's fault but your own according to the mainstream media.

The March 9 "CBS Evening News" found another way to fault home lenders instead of one borrower who took on an ill-planned mortgage that was more than he could pay: the race card.

"[Michael] Wiggins, a city bus driver, was one of millions of Americans caught in the subprime mortgage crisis," CBS correspondent Randall Pinkston said. "His mortgage lenders' network loan gave him an 11-percent interest rate with a payment of $3,900 a month. But that jumped to $4,200 a month because of delinquency fees and penalties. Knowing he was sinking fast, Wiggins looked for refinancing at commercial banks."

"NBC Nightly News" has found yet another hardship story caused by the credit crunch - prospective college students seeking student loans.

The March 6 "Nightly News" aired a segment about how a lack of funding for student lenders will cause some students not to be able to attend their first choice of college.

"More than a dozen lenders have pulled out of the federal student loan program, unable to raise enough money to make loans," NBC correspondent Tom Costello said. "Now - Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan, New Hampshire and Iowa have suspended parts or all of their student loan programs - unprecedented."

The media have seemed to have forgotten what has made this country prosperous according to ABC's John Stossel.

Stossel told an audience at the Heartland Institute's 2008 International Conference on Climate Change on March 4 in New York that the media propagate an anti-capitalist sentiment.

"The socialist media - maybe they will just never get it," Stossel said. "Their world view is anti-capitalist. [Ludwig] von Mises wrote about it in 1972 and it's just very hard to change. I would also argue the scientific community is as well."

They're starting to get it. The media are figuring out government meddling in U.S. energy policy is taking a toll on the American economy.

On February 20, the Labor Department reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key inflation reading, rose 0.4 percent in January, matching December's rise. Why? Increased food costs because corn is being used for ethanol.

"Farmers are replacing wheat fields with corn to meet the demand for alternative fuel, but that means higher flour prices - and in one Pennsylvania pizza shop, more expensive pies," NBC News correspondent Chris Jansing said on the February 27 "NBC Nightly News."

Nothing like the cheery decade of the 1970s - disco dancing, "Animal House," Farrah Fawcett and the buzz word reincarnated by the media - stagflation.

After a disappointing spike in inflation, the producer price index (PPI), by 1.0 percent in January, and a rise in core inflation (with food and energy costs excluded), rising 0.4 percent on Tuesday, the media have deemed it necessary to sound the stagflation siren.

"Now, to the economy," ABC "World News" anchor Charles Gibson said. "And a word not heard since the 1970s - stagflation. That occurs when prices go up just as the economy slows down - stagnation plus inflation. And the government that wholesale prices shot up 1 percent in January and are now up almost 7.5 percent in the past 12 months."

A Time.com article by Bryan Walsh encouraged readers to go to an environmentalist Web site because it might be their last chance to see the "polar world."

"Man your computers - GlobalWarming101.com might give you a last glimpse of a dying polar world," Walsh wrote on February 22.

The Web site is run by Will Steger, who identified himself as an author, photographer and "ceaseless advocate for the Earth's well being."

"To help raise awareness of the damage climate change is wreaking on the polar regions, next month Steger will be leading a team of six young adventurers on a 1,400-mile, 60-day-long dogsled expedition across Ellesmere Island, in the far Canadian Arctic," wrote Walsh.

Global warming alarmist Anne Thompson has shown a propensity for having little regard for economic reality.

Thompson offered viewers on the February 21 broadcast of the "NBC Nightly News" a variety of reasons why building a badly-needed coal-fired power plant in an isolated part of Nevada is a bad idea.

"Critics say emissions are exactly the issue, because coal-fired power is the nation's biggest producer of CO2 emissions," Thompson said in a February 21 report from Ely, Nev. "That's why Nevada is in the center of this fight. The Ely energy center, which would sit in this valley, along with the other two proposed coal-fired plants, could more than double those greenhouse gas emissions, sending another 31 million tons into the sky."

The eco-love affair Washington has with biofuels is starting to take a toll on the fragile U.S. economy. It's a shame no one in the media have that connection.

"World News with Charles Gibson" explained on February 20 that biofuels are driving up food prices, which is driving up inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key inflation reading, rose 0.4 percent in January according to the Labor Department, matching December's rise.

"Blame it on the price of wheat," said ABC correspondent Sharon Alfonsi. "Demand for alternative energy has farmers planting less wheat and more corn - the key ingredient of ethanol. Add the growing appetite for wheat from developing countries and the supply is strained.

Hillary Clinton's campaign hasn't failed to disappoint some in the media.

Just a week and a half after MSNBC's David Shuster made the remark, "it seem like Chelsea's [Clinton] sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way," MSNBC contributor and Newsweek Senior Editor Jonathan Alter had some harsh criticism of her campaign. On the heels of Clinton's losses in Wisconsin, Washington State and Hawaii on February 19 to Barack Obama, Alter said her campaign had been terribly managed when asked.

Video courtesy of "The Q&A Cafe with Carol Joynt"

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With the symbolic passing of the torch - from Fidel Castro to Raul Castro - comes hope of changes in Cuba, well at least among some in the media.

Even though no one is predicting Cuba to usher in a new wave of Adam Smith-style capitalism, there might be some changes according to ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson."

"[H]e's talking about significant reforms - liberalizing trade, economic reforms designed to ease poverty in a country where the average person earned $19 a month in the hope of consolidating his own power," ABC correspondent Jeffrey Kofman said on the Feb.19, 2008, ABC "World News with Charles Gibson."

No one has ever accused Protectionist-in-Chief and CNN host Lou Dobbs of being one to exercise discretion when something has ticked him off.

The host of “Lou Dobbs Tonight” blew up after interview after CNN correspondent Christine Romans interviewed Nancy Nord, chairman of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, on his a February 18 show.

“This – Nord, is she as imbecilic as she appears to be as absolutely insensitive to American consumers, as absolutely lacking the judgment to run a federal agency designed and created to protect the American consumer?” Dobbs asked. “I mean this woman is beyond belief.”

Early last month, when oil prices flirted with inflation-adjusted record highs, fears of sky-high gas prices were filtered through the media.

CNBC's Erin Burnett gave viewers a frightening prediction of $4-a-gallon gasoline during a January 2 appearance on the NBC "Nightly News." The "Street Signs" anchor cited John Kilduff, the vice president of risk management at the MF Global Ltd. Brokerage, as the source of this predicted high watermark for gasoline.

"And John Kilduff, who I know you speak with often, as well, Brian, he says we could see prices at the pump as high as $4 a gallon," Burnett said. "And that could be by the middle of February. So it could be anytime in the next six weeks. So that's going to be an increase, and we've seen it across the board, Brian. Commodity prices are going up, and that is causing worry for stocks."

Once again, the media have demonstrated its disregard for the rationale behind business decisions.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Northwest Airlines (NYSE:NWA) are in negotiations for a merger, which could be a win-win for both companies. However, a segment on NBC's February 15 "Today" portrayed it as the two airlines teaming up to take advantage of travelers and ignored the possibility that the survival of both airlines may hinge on this merger.

"But airline mergers have traditionally meant job losses, especially in the airlines' hub cities, as well as fewer flight options for passengers in smaller cities and higher ticket prices," NBC correspondent Tom Costello said. "In Atlanta, we found frequent travelers fearing that's exactly what could happen."

Fear not, ye economically downtrodden: Katie Couric is looking out for you.

The "CBS Evening News" broadcasts over the last few months have found a multitude of ways to frame the U.S. economy in the worst possible ways, so much so that Couric compared CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason to the grim reaper on a recent newscast.

But Couric offered a solution to the pending doom and gloom you see every night on the news on the February 11 "Evening News" - stamp futures.

Just when you thought the economic doom and gloom couldn't get any worse in the news, "Good Morning America" has determined recession is now causing arson.

"We have news this morning on the home foreclosure front, word that cash-strapped homeowners are taking desperate measures," ABC co-host Diane Sawyer said.

The February 11 "GMA" has determined "cash-strapped homeowners" are taking "desperate measures," that is they are burning down their homes to avoid foreclosure. That notion ABC's Bianna Golodryga based upon two isolated cases of anecdotal evidence.

One home supposedly burned because Sheryl Christman, a 38-year-old Michigan woman, was three days short of foreclosure. She pleaded no contest after the Sept. 1, 2007 arson. The other case was a Colorado arson where a man "may have" committed arson before an "imminent foreclosure."

You reap what you sow.

Nothing could be truer when it comes to the American economy. According to CNBC "Closing Bell" host Maria Bartiromo, if the media continue to push doom-and-gloom economy stories, they will make the economy worse.

"[T]he truth is, ["Today" co-anchor] Meredith [Vieira], it doesn't matter if we're in a recession," Bartiromo said on NBC's February 6 "Today." "We can talk ourselves into a recession, and that seems to be what we're doing right now and that certainly begets more weakness."

The media coverage has apparently affected voters. According to the February 6 Washington Times, an exit survey from the "Super Tuesday" primaries showed 47 percent of Democratic voters and 40 percent of Republican voters said the economy was the most important issue in making their choice at the polls.

Maybe they should have added a few carbon credits to this Super Bowl bet.

NBC's "Today" co-anchor Meredith Vieira lost a bet to fellow co-anchor Matt Lauer for the New York Giants 17-14 win over the New England Patriots. But it wasn't exactly a carbon-neutral endeavor.

"[Y]ou know, let's check the traffic chopper, chopper four for Meredith - to see how traffic is over the West Side [of New York City] - and you can see, it's still clear," "Today" meteorologist Al Roker said on the February 4 show. "It's still clear, the traffic and in fact, it's perfect for planes flying overhead, ‘Giants Rule, Meredith drools.'"

Imagine someone going on the radio and using Scripture to give you advice on your finances. To ABC's "World News," following this advice involves "radical" action.

The February 3 "World News Sunday" featured the financial advice of Howard Dayton. Dayton incorporates the Bible into his advice and says it's Biblical to get out of debt as soon as possible. But "World News" anchor Dan Harris portrayed the followers of this advice as a fringe element.

"Dayton urges families to pay them [debts, including home mortgages] off as quickly as possible, even if it involves radical belt tightening - advice the Pruitt family is following," Harris said.

Sen. John McCain may not have won the favor of Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter, but he has some upside in the eyes of The New Republic Editor Franklin Foer.

Foer appeared at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C., on February 1 to promote his new book, "Election 2008: A Voter's Guide."

"[I] think that McCain has certain political virtues that other Republicans don't, which is that he actually has kind of a record of being, of being conciliatory - that there's actually - I mean, I don't what it means for the electoral future of the Democratic Party, but there are the possibilities for doing some interesting things with McCain as a leader, and I'm mostly thinking about global warming - where McCain has the best track record on energy and environment on the Republican side in the Senate," Foer concluded. "So, I think you have some really good possibility for a Nixon-to-China type solution to climate change if he decides that that's going to be the thing he is going to use to build a bridge."

"January Jobs Number: Beware! It Might Not Be True," the caption read at the bottom of the screen on CNBC's February 1 "Street Signs."

The number of payroll jobs declined for the first time in more than four years on February 1, but "Street Signs" host Erin Burnett explained, this jobs report might not be as bad as it has been reported elsewhere - like today's story posted on CBSNews.com - "U.S. Economy Suffers Another Body Blow."

"[T]here's a system out there where basically what happens is the government makes some assumptions about how many jobs are created or lost every month," Burnett explained. "How many businesses are created - they can't check it every single month, so they have to make some assumptions. It turns out if you look out over history they always do the ‘businesses dying estimate' in the month of January - as a matter of fact, always in the month of January."

♪♫ ♪ Say, say, one, nine, three, zero, party over, oops, out of time! So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1929! ♪♫ ♪

It's the kind of rhetoric legislators in Congress were probably hearing following the economic downturn that occurred in 1929, which instigated the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 that sent U.S. tariff rates sky high. That is, the February 11 issue of BusinessWeek, showing all the disadvantages of free trade for the United States and ignoring the advantages.

An article, "Economists Rethink Free Trade," by BusinessWeek Washington Bureau Chief Jane Sasseen ignored the benefits of free trade and the consequences of enacting anti-free trade policies.

Two weeks and two rate cuts later, CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer has a revived faith in the U.S. stock market.

On January 18, Cramer appeared on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and warned if the government didn't intervene and prevent the failure of two large insurance companies, Ambac and MBIA, the Dow Jones Industrial Average would drop 2,000 points in the upcoming weeks. Cramer isn't talking about that sort of collapse anymore.

"For months I was worried about [MBIA CFO] Chuck Chaplin and MBIA (NYSE:MBI) and ABK [Ambac Financial Group, Inc.] (NYSE:ABK)," Cramer said on the January 31 "Street Signs." "Everyone's worried about it now? Why should I be worried about it? When you have a problem on your hands and everyone's worried knows about it, [New York State Superintendent of Insurance] Eric Dinallo to [President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York] Tim Geithner, it's done. It's done."

Slate.com Editor Jacob Weisberg can now add "medicine" to his list of expertise. Weisberg told an audience the awkwardness some claim Bush shows during speeches can be attributed to a learning disability.

Weisberg linked it back to a pattern of dyslexia in the Bush family.

"I agree with that," Weisberg said when presented the possibility that Bush has a "learning disability." "The other thing I've done is collect ‘Bushisms' over the years and I sort of joke this book is my penance for doing that, because one of the things ‘Bushisms' do is I think they make Bush sound stupider than he is, or stupid in a way he isn't. And I do think he does have some sort of language processing impairment that is probably akin to dyslexia, and dyslexia does run in the family. But, I don't think it is dyslexia because if you watched the State of the Union, you could see he has no trouble reading a teleprompter."

If "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric makes statements about someone's downbeat economic reporting - you know it's blatantly gloomy.

CBS News Business Correspondent Anthony Mason, who rarely finds a positive thing to say about the U.S. economy, gave another negative report during the January 30 "CBS Evening News," after the Federal Reserve decided to cut 50 basis points off its Fed funds rate. This time Couric compared Mason to "the grim reaper."

"Anthony, you're starting to sound like the grim reaper every night," Couric said." So - but it's good to have you."

Mason warned Standard & Poor's, a financial research firm, just announced it may cut its ratings on some securities associated with the turmoil in the subprime lending market.

It’s apparently okay to buy unnecessary and expensive electronics at a discount – even if you’ve lost your job and money is “tight.”

After all, the Super Bowl is Sunday.

CNN’s January 30 “American Morning” mentioned retailers were cutting prices to get customers to purchase more, but no one during the broadcast had a problem with one unemployed woman buying one of those fancy televisions.

“Veronica McNeil has two kids,” said "American Morning" anchor Alina Cho. “She recently lost her job. Her husband’s an ironworker and the family is feeling the pinch.”

Can you remember where you were at any point during the four years of the Jimmy Carter presidency?

Most people who were alive don't look favorably toward the economic situation during those years. But MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews, who was gainfully employed as a member of the Carter administration, might look back a little fondly.

When he criticized President George W. Bush about the economy following his State of the Union address on January 28, he may have just neglected to remember what the economy was like back then. That didn't stop him from taking a shot at the Republican president.

It isn't home foreclosures, high gas prices or even the stock market being used to show the economy is heading for hell in a hand basket.

No, this time the culprit is "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun," otherwise known as the Big Mac. And ABC's Bianna Golodryga asks, "If Americans are saying goodbye to fast food, could we be saying hello to a recession?"

"According to the latest figures, America may no longer be the ‘fast food nation' that it once was," Golodryga said on the January 29 "Good Morning America." "And, it has nothing to do with going on a health diet, but everything to do with going on a spending diet."