The broadcast networks exhibited gross mismanagement in their coverage of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage powerhouses now in need of a $25-billion government rescue.
"It's partially a bias and partially just sort of gross mismanagement on their part," Business & Media Institute Vice President Dan Gainor said on CBN's "Newswatch" July 30. "All they had to do was pick up a Wall Street Journal. You know people at the network news shows read the Wall Street Journal at least sometimes. The Journal's been on this case since February 2002 when they had a piece headline, ‘Fannie Mae Enron?'"
The networks - ABC, CBS and NBC - ignored six years of concerns about the two companies' management, Gainor wrote July 28.
"The combination of stock losses, government fines and proposed bailout comes close to $150 billion," he wrote. "It's a huge story largely ignored by network news until a taxpayer bailout was almost guaranteed."
But the networks were more interested in attacking private companies with Enron comparisons than likening Fannie and Freddie to the infamous corporate debacle.
"But you look at the network news and what they've been doing is making extensive comparisons still to Enron," Gainor told "Newswatch" anchor Lee Webb. "Even up through June this year they talked more about Enron on ABC, CBS and NBC than they did about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
Gainor also criticized the media's failure to give recent drops in oil prices the same coverage given to increases in the past.
"Unfortunately what's happened is when you have a run-up in oil or gasoline prices the networks do a big job, they hype the price increase," he said. "Well oil has dropped, at least prior to today, more than $20-some a barrel. That should've generated tons of coverage 'cause it has a huge economic impact, and all of that happened - amazingly - right after the president made his push for drilling offshore."
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Do you know one of the main
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 14:15 ET by buddycDo you know one of the main reasons? Look in Wikipedia under JAMIE S. GORELICK, the wonderful liberal lawyer who has had her little hand in almost every major disaster of the last 15 years. Wikipedia (as of 2 days ago, documented her up to the eyeballs involvement in Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac.
Would the MSM silence be
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 15:04 ET by dscottWould the MSM silence be due to the fact that it is primarily Clinton appointees running this disaster at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Would it also be due to the fact that the underlying premise of their loose terms to buy mortgages was an equality of outcome argument? The banks made the mortgages under a set of rules created by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. They wanted as many people to own homes as possible under the ignorant idea that everyone is capable of being a homeowner. Not everyone is capable of being an owner, as ownership requires PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, we all know that not everyone has this character trait.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
Same ol', same ol'
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 17:19 ET by acumenWould the MSM silence be due to the fact that it is primarily Clinton appointees running this disaster at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
From the linked article -- "But the story within the story is how network news ignored six years of concerns about the two companies.... and high-profile Democrats deeply involved."
Journalism is dead
A perfect examaple
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 15:13 ET by c5thenOf why Government should NEVER get directly involved in the economy and especially a specific industry or business. If the bad mortgages hadn't been accumulated via Freddie and Fannie, then they would have stayed distributed accross multiple Banks and Mortgage companies who would have taken small or medium losses as a result but otherwise survived. And even if some didn't survive, it would have been a local problem not a national emergency.
No body can tell me that having to take a 5% loss in any industry is enough to kill it. Subprime mortgages are less than 5% of all mortgages written. It's only when they are allowed (encouraged) to be accumulated that the accumulators get 'too big to be allowed to fail'.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
Here's what CATO said
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 15:21 ET by sarcasmoIn 2004 (and various other libertarians were bitching about these potential disasters even before that, IIRC). Back then, privatizing the mess would have been (relatively) cheap, too.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
Mr. Gainor is making matters worse
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 21:05 ET by needleI can understand Gainor being piqued in the extreme, and of course his outrage is completely justified because he is basing it on the premise that it is the MSM’s role to keep Americans informed.
I just wish that everyone, but most especially influential people like Mr. Gainor, would chuck that old premise and start operating with the new and proper post-modern premise for the MSM; namely, to promote the liberal agenda by whatever duplicitous means come to hand. By bellyaching the way he did, Mr. Gainor is not going to bring about any improvement, to say nothing of contrition, on the part of the MSM. The folks at the MSM are doubtlessly laughing up their sleeves, because Mr. Gainor is actually reinforcing the pretense that the MSM is America’s “mainstream” bearer of news. So long as that perception prevails the MSM can proceed quite effectively with their actual mission of promoting the liberal agenda.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.