BusinessWeek Launches 'Recession in America' Blog

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."