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Vice-Chair Gabbard Resigns From DNC; AP Buries the News in a Timeline
February 28th, 2016 4:37 PM
The simmering feud between the Democratic Party establishment and leftists who believe that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has acted more like "Democrats Nominating Clinton" than a genuine political party presenting viable alternatives to Hillary Clinton, visibly erupted today.
This morning, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard resigned her position as Vice Chair at the DNC and…
Most Stories Omit Spitzer's Dem Affiliation; AP Waits 14 Paragraphs
February 16th, 2016 1:52 AM
Yesterday, Matt Balan at NewsBusters noted that only two of the Big 3 broadcast news networks covered "the assault allegation against former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer that emerged over the weekend," and that only NBC mentioned Spitzer's Democratic Party affiliation.
A broader look at news coverage of Spitzer's latest encounter with law enforcement indicates that omitting his party…
Reuters Touts Ted Cruz vs. 'Liberal Media'
February 4th, 2016 12:35 PM
John Llloyd spotlighted how Ted Cruz has picked a fight with the media in a Thursday item for Reuters: "Most Republican contenders take a swing at the media, but Cruz swings more than others." Lloyd pointed out how after his victory in Iowa, Cruz "did not forget to say that it was the American people, not the media, who had chosen him. A supporter emphasized the point by waving a placard in front…
Barely News: Big-Rig Orders Are in a Steep, Year-Long Decline
February 3rd, 2016 11:24 PM
One of the economy's more important bellwethers has been on a steep year-long decline which shows no signs of abating this year. It's barely news, and much of the sparse reporting seen has been incomplete and sloppy.
Truckinginfo.com reported today that "January was a tough month for truck manufacturers as Class 8 truck orders were down 35% compared to the previous month, according to a…
Press Ignores Compelling Reason Why 4th Quarter GDP May Further Weaken
January 30th, 2016 9:24 PM
As has been its habit during the Obama administration when the economy turns in a poor performance, the press's coverage of yesterday's report on U.S. economic growth focused on how much better next quarter's news will supposedly be. Especially in this instance, the beat reporters and pundits should have looked at whether or not yesterday's initial result will hold up, or whether it's likely to…
Press Drags Out 'Warm Weather' to Excuse Poor Fourth-Quarter Growth
January 30th, 2016 10:25 AM
Friday morning, the government reported that the economy grew at a pathetic annual rate of 0.7 percent in last year's final quarter.
As it did in covering the disappointing Christmas shopping season, the business press partially blamed yesterday's awful result on the weather, i.e., warm weather.
Press Exaggerates Nov. Existing-Home Sales Plunge by Ignoring Raw Data
December 22nd, 2015 12:57 PM
The business press worships at the altar of seasonally adjusted data. Most journalists covering the economy don't even bother looking at raw, not seasonally adjusted data, which in layman's terms is best understood as "what actually happened." As I have shown for nearly a decade, this is often a big mistake.
On the rare occasions when reporters take the initiative to look at the raw data, they…
Absurd Reuters: Today's Homebuilding News 'Signals Economic Strength'
December 16th, 2015 11:51 PM
Reuters and reporter Lucia Mutikani went way overboard today in reacting to today's residential construction news from the Census Bureau.
Mutikani's headline contended that today's "housing data signals economic strength," while a section title claimed that there are "strong housing fundamentals." That can only possibly be true if one believes the world began in 2007.
AP: Japan Is in a Real Recession, But Trying to'Pump Up 'Recovery'
November 27th, 2015 11:24 PM
Twenty years of economic growth averaging less than 1 percent have failed to convince Japan's leaders — and apparently its citizens — that Keynesian-style government spending and handouts are not the answer to turning that long-suffering nation's economy around. So the Shinzo Abe government, fresh from learning that the country is in yet another recession — its fifth since 2008 — is doing more…
Reuters: 2 Percent Growth Is Economy's 'Long-Run Potential'
November 24th, 2015 6:32 PM
Call it the triumph of the "new normal."
At Reuters today, after today's first revision of third-quarter gross domestic product showed that the economy grew by an annualized 2.1 percent, up from the late-October estimate of 1.5 percent, reporter Lucia Mutikani and Editor Paul Simao demonstrated that they have completely given in to the artificially lowered expectations of past seven miserable…
Media Miss: Year-Over-Year Oct. Existing Home Sales Up 1%, Not 4%
November 23rd, 2015 1:56 PM
Gosh, this gets tiresome.
Once again, with one noteworthy exception, the business press's virtually blind acceptance of seasonally adjusted economic data, and its accompanying refusal to look at the underlying raw data, led it to paint a deceptive picture of an important element of the economy. This time, it was existing home sales for October. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for October…
Reuters Downplays Syrians Caught Headed to U.S. with Fake Passports
November 18th, 2015 5:54 PM
Pulling an Officer Barbrady, the Reuters news wire this afternoon essentially told us all to "move along, people" as regards news of five Syrians caught in Honduras bound for the U.S. with fake Greek passports.
Japan in Recession Again, So the Answer Must Be Even More 'Stimulus'
November 16th, 2015 12:35 AM
Japan's two-decade romance with Keynesian economics has led to another betrayal — and yet the press and all the supposedly smart economists and analysts seem to believe that just one more fling might bring about a different result.
The Land of the Rising Sun, aka the Land of the Two-Decade Zombie Economy, has just reported an annualized contraction of 0.8 percent in the third quarter. The…
Not News: Mediocre Economy Has Cost Americans Thousands Each
October 31st, 2015 10:47 PM
On Thursday, the government reported that the nation's economy turned in yet another quarter of poor economic performance, estimating that its gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the third quarter.
The business press almost universally downplayed the news, and told readers that the fourth quarter will be better. No one talked about how much the tepid growth of the…