CNN Reporter: 'Do You Think We're Feeding Economic 'Misery'?'

CNN's senior business correspondent Ali Velshi had an interesting question for viewers this morning.

Before telling viewers that consumer confidence is at the lowest level in two years, Velshi asked if the media have anything to do with it.

"Do you think we're feeding this thing? Do you think we're fueling this sort of misery?" asked Velshi on "American Morning" November 28.

A question for Newsbusters readers: How would you answer Velshi's question?

The Business & Media Institute has found that the media certainly don't reinforce the soundness of the economy when things are going well. BMI's "Bad News Bears" study that looked at one year of reporting, found that 62 percent of network (ABC, CBS, NBC) economic stories focused on negative news. Those stories were also given more airtime.

Other BMI research has shown that the media have emphasized the possibility of recession since the economic recovery began in August 2003.