Vice President of the Business & Media Institute Dan Gainor outlined the media's failure in covering consumer confidence numbers in a February 15 appearance on the Fox Business Network.
"What we're talking about, instead of consumer confidence, we're talking about media competence," Gainor said. "Last year, July was the six-year high for consumer confidence and yet if you watch any one of the three network news shows, evening news shows, you didn't see it."
"This Consumer Confidence Index, more than a lot of measures, tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy," he added. "If you're going to do, as evening news shows did last year, 32 reports about consumer confidence and only one of them's positive, well you're going to have an impact on consumer confidence."
Host David Asman contended that negative media reporting is not the cause of lower consumer confidence, attributing the decline to "fundamental things that are happening."
But the media have been predicting a recession for years, long before the economy started to show signs of a slowdown. "If they were just now, or even just last year talking about recession, that would be entirely accurate," Gainor said of Asman's hypothesis. He said that in 2006, printed stories on recession averaged once per week, even occasionally comparing economic conditions in 2006 to the Great Depression.
"Folks, we're nowhere near the Great Depression," co-host Liz Claman declared.
Thanks, Liz! At least someone in the media seems to have her head on straight!
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Right. They do six months
February 15, 2008 - 17:54 ET by motherbeltRight. They do six months worth of stories saying the economy sucks, and then they go out and do a survey asking "Do you have confidence in the economy?"
And are shocked, shocked! to find that consumer confidence is low.
The modern MSM is criminal
February 15, 2008 - 18:58 ET by the strugglerThe modern MSM is criminal in their reporting and non-reporting.SO MANY people have no idea.The facts can't get out.
Does anyone have any duct tape(they're not using)for my head?
And there are folks here in
February 15, 2008 - 20:25 ET by QueenMumAnd there are folks here in the Heartland who are preparing for the worst. Callers into local talk radio are talking about government work programs as a way to help put people to work and save the economy.
I'm sick to death of the "Chicken Little" media mentality.
Power to the people!
In that negative
February 15, 2008 - 20:33 ET by motherbeltIn that negative atmosphere, even if people are doing fine, they are convinced that they are the fortunate exception, and everyone else is on the verge of disaster.
No where near the Great Depression?
February 15, 2008 - 21:31 ET by Lame CherryI would like it if Conservatives and the GOP would stop taking it personal when looking at the real economic situation.
In the Great Depression, most Americans except for those in hock in the Stock Market owned their own farms, produced a goodly portion of their food, had no monthly out put of utility bills and were solvent of debt.
In 2008, most Americans have 50,000 dollars in credit card debt alone, have a home mortgaged, average 300 dollars per month in utility bills, are existing paycheck to paycheck, rely on a grocery store with 3 days supply of food and owe their intire infrastructure to inflation and Chinese production coupled with oil production.
1929, was horses, horse feed and solvency.
2008, is cars, consumer debt and insolvency.
The middle class is gone in America and the poverty class is one now not capable of buying a car, affording needs and making house payments.
Right now the OPEC states are sitting on on powder keg of Muslim kooks they created and funded about ready to make oil supply a radioactive poison zone.
Right now China is facing a huge unemployment surge. Tell 1 billion Chinese who are angry like 30 million Muslims.
Right now America does not have production in sustained areas nor is capable of feeding it's population in area.
Respectfully Mr. Gainor, a worthless dollar, record debt, dictators like Rockefeller, Soros and Rothschild running America compared to one FDR communist without a radical Putin pointing missiles at America, Chicoms pointing missiles at America, North Koreans, Iranians etc... all doing the same with America investing billions in a terror war.
You bet it is not the Great Depression in being nowhere near it.......it is the Great Tribulation of Biblical proportions.
That is going to be a great bit worse when this busts as there is no Conservative leader available and all the "Conservatives" as I have found are all pointing sharp spears into those not perfect enough for them.......so we have bomb em Obama, bomb em Al Gore and bomb em John McCain.
Get on the correct page people and stop being suckered into attacking each other or making it personal. Americans need to pull together and FIX it and stop acting like the broken system is running smooth.
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