If there were any doubt the media is trying to milk bad economic news for all that it's worth, look no further than BusinessWeek magazine.
BusinessWeek kicked off its "Recession in America" blog on May 2. It is dedicated solely to reporting on the "recession [that] is here (or will be soon)," as the headline of a May 19 post stated (h/t BMI advisor Chris Roush of Talkingbiznews.com).
"As the U.S. economy slows, the story is often told through broad statistics," the "about" section of the blog stated. "In this blog, BusinessWeek reporter Tim Catts travels the country to uncover the stories of how individuals are coping with the downturn."
Although criteria of the technical definition of a "recession" haven't been met - two quarters of negative growth in gross domestic product - the BusinessWeek blog is operating under the assumption that the recession is inevitable.
BusinessWeek's effort to create this medium comes as some economists are dialing back their forecasts that a recession is inevitable. The May 14 Wall Street Journal reported some economists weren't quite ready to declare an economic recession a foregone conclusion.
‘Recession in America' reporter Catts didn't exactly jump for joy after he read that news. He presented his own summary of the Journal story in a May 14 post.
"In other words, we'll get three more months of the conditions we've seen since last fall, then things will improve a bit but still stay considerably more sluggish than we're used to for the rest of the year," said Catts. "And this is good news? Well, it's better than a shrinking economy."
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Yeesh can't we just get
May 22, 2008 - 09:47 ET by taterYeesh can't we just get past November so we can hear wonderful stories about the economy and the price of gas and food mysteriously going down.
That's my prediction.
"They need to have a course in college called common sense and everyone should take it. Problem is there isn't too many people that could pass or teach it." -my grandfather
Look at the Numbers!!!
May 22, 2008 - 09:51 ET by MeanderingThis is driving me nuts, look at the numbers people. Unemployment is down (5% lower than the Clinton administration), the economy is rising and has NOT had 2 quarters of negative growth. So these liberal media outlets needs to shut their pieholes!
The economy isn't going down
May 22, 2008 - 09:59 ET by KillgraveThe economy isn't going down like they want it to.
The global climate isn't spiking upwards like they want. The ice isn't melting, there aren't as many hurricanes, and there aren't tornados in Washington state.
It's too bad these terrible things aren't happening so they can feel good about themselves.
Let's stop calling it
May 22, 2008 - 10:03 ET by mattmLet's stop calling it bias. Let's call it what it is: LIES!
I'm sick of it. If a DemoRAT were president, this exact same economy would be touted as being great, and any problems would be blamed on the fact that Republicans are standing in the way of progress.
Call it as you see it
May 22, 2008 - 10:12 ET by NorthCoasterMattm is right. A worse economy during President Clinton's presidency was promoted as wonderful by the media! It just depends on what the agenda of the day/year is and who they want to knock down or promote. Whatever happened to reporting the news? I know where to go to find primary source information but most of the public depends on this sort of "reporting". This goes beyond spin and truly is propaganda!
That's a good point
May 22, 2008 - 11:05 ET by Meanderingtimes are better now and what does the MSM say about the economy. It is blatent and outright lies!
Perspective
May 22, 2008 - 10:30 ET by FoolicanLook at old articles dated back to 1997. All the economists, journalists, and investigative reporters predicted a rosy economy with booming stocks and open job markets. Fast-forward to 2000 and 2004 and you'll hear horror stories of the homeless. Surely this is no coincidence - no, clearly Bush has destroyed the economy while Clinton has expanded it; why else would the media report that way?
Surely the media cannot have an agenda! Just look at Hurricane Katrina!
I mean... um, at the oil crisis... er... forget it.
Foolican... you meant 2001 - 2004, perhaps?
May 22, 2008 - 16:57 ET by Gary HallFoolican... you meant 2001 - 2004, perhaps? The media waited.
Although, the stock market was in full collapse stage, employment was falling, thousands of publically traded corporations were getting delisted, many closing their doors, gasoline and heating oil prices soaring, the MSM was not talking about pain during the Clinton era. Even late in Oct 2000, they were still piling on the praise to Al Gore over their prowress of the economy - "the soaring stock market??"
But out there in the left side of the isle were economists, many of them way on the left side of the isle, who had pain in their pen, and they were writing. The mainsteam media - these same folks who love these leftie economists - censored them during this time (they love them again today):
I'll tell you what the MSM was going to tell people; they were going to wait it out, not warn a soul, and then blame it all on George Bush.
And that they did.
I think you'll agree. (:~> gary
Sasquatch
May 22, 2008 - 11:43 ET by forestMaybe they should start a sasquatch in America blog too.