Economy

This could be perhaps the most bizarre application of James Carville's worn out expression, "It's the economy stupid." "CBS Evening News" linked the economy to the famed pregnancy pact that has received national attention. The June 19 broadcast of "Evening News" faulted the ailing economy for 17 Massachusetts high school students agreeing to get pregnant intentionally around the same time so…

Not a mere hell-freezes-over-moment.  Call it–in honor of Chinese Olympic diving which made the NY Times today–a a triple-twisting forward three-and-a-half flying pig, pike position.  An MSM reporter has condemned socialist big-government programs, adding a pitch for unrestrained free-market forces.  Check the end of this item for a factoid making the moment even more remarkable.CNBC's Michelle…

Survey question: If the media had the results of three independent surveys of corporate executives about the economy and two of them were more negative than the third, which one wouldn't get much coverage?In the last few days, three such surveys have been released. Two of them - the Business Roundtable's quarterly CEO Economic Outlook Index and the Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business…

It's not just the Associated Press that can't get basic facts right. No wonder Barack Obama doesn't get challenged by the media on fundamentals -- y'know, things like how many states there are in the union (he says 57 or so), whether Illinois is closer to Kentucky than Arkansas (he says it's not), or whether Warren Buffett's income (!) is $56 billion (Obama seems to think that income and net…

Recently the Rockford (Ill.) Register Star subjected its readers to another fine example of sloppy journalism aimed at exalting the Obama candidacy. It is so bad, so pointless, so filled with empty platitudes and meaninglessness that one might suspect it was written by Barack Obama himself instead of a reputed journalist. But it is a perfect example of the sort of slavish devotion the Illinois…

As we've noted at NewsBusters, there's been scant coverage of a new scandal involving Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.). Both senators chair committees with oversight of the financial industry and Dodd is behind a bailout package for mortgage lender Countrywide. Both senators got "VIP" treatment from Countrywide Financial for refinancing agreements on their respective mortgages.So…

Call it an obvious "InCNNsistency." Subtle bias towards emphasizing unfavorable economic news and against reporting good economic news is present in many places. I will demonstrate that it's even sometimes in the brief e-mail alerts many people receive. This alert I received today from CNNMoney demonstrates a long-known (by me) but, until now, unproven point: But when the Dow closed above 14,…

A liberal-leaning organization has produced a report on the 2008 presidential candidates’ tax plans and, accordingly, the Associated Press has jumped on it.In her June 17 article, AP’s Liz Sidoti used a recent study by the Tax Policy Center -- a project of the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution and Urban Institute -- to advance the notion that Obama’s tax policies favor the middle class while…

Townhall.com's Amanda Carpenter rips into the Washington Post today over its editorial about Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Chris Dodd (Conn.) and their cozy arrangement for mortgage refinances with Countrywide. For some background, check out my June 13 blog on ABCNews.com's treatment of the story.I'll let Carpenter take it from here (emphasis mine):

Out: Suggestions that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has lost his bearings. In: Jokes about him being "liable to break a hip." Opening his Campaign Sketch column today, Washington Post's Dana Milbank painted the Arizona senator as a political dancer shuffling left-and-right all over the campaign floor: If John McCain keeps dancing like this, he's liable to break a hip. Last month, he…

Pushing a liberal social agenda is the last thing you'd expect to see on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." But the network's June 16 mid-morning show featured a segment praising the California Supreme Court for legalizing same-sex marriage because of a predicted economic benefit. "This time around, one study expects over 100,000 gay couples will tie the knot, providing a boost to California's…

Press coverage of Barack Obama's Social Security proposal in Columbus, Ohio last week made many of the usual mistakes any time there's a story about the government's "third rail" program. But in this case it missed what would be a historic de-linkage of payments made into the system from benefits paid out. First, here are the key paragraphs from the Cincinnati Enquirer's coverage of Obama's…

Irish voters struck a blow for national sovereignty a few days ago, and the world's media elites didn't like it one bit. Here's how the UK Guardian opened its "Darn those voters" coverage Friday morning: Ireland today decisively rejected the Lisbon treaty on European Union reform, plunging the project into chaos. Humiliated at the polls, the Irish prime minister, Brian Cowen, admitted the…

The Associated Press's Martin Crutsinger got out the gloom-and-doom paint in his report on the Consumer Price Index on Friday morning. Here are his opening paragraphs: Inflation rate jumps by biggest amount in 6 months Inflation shot up in May at the fastest pace in six months, pushed higher by soaring costs for gasoline and other types of energy. The Labor Department reported Friday that…