News Media too alarmist

[edwest2]

I encourage everyone to complain to their local and national news media, including those on the internet. They are promoting a wild-eyed and irrational hysteria over the current economic crisis. Words like carnage have been used to describe job losses, while a photo shows people calmly waiting in line, some with cell phones, looking for work or help.

Instead of providing information in a calm, level-headed voice, like the President, the media is helping to lower morale in America and around the world. Those responsible for this crisis are currently hammering out deals behind the scenes so profits can get flowing again.

Most people are in no position to make substantive changes to the way the government is dealing with this crisis. I urge you to contact your elected representatives about this media craziness as well. It’s not needed, it’s not productive and it is doing some real damage.

What is needed is sober and rational presentation of the information people need to get through this and make good decisions.

The media should be ashamed of itself and reminded that it serves the people and should deserve the public’s trust. The current media is showing that it does not want to behave responsibly.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Matrix_Refugee]

Tell me about it. It’s just making the situation seem bleaker than it is: I have some elderly customers at work who remember the Great Depression of the 1930s, and say what’s going on is really nothing in comparison. But that’s not what some of the large news sources would say.

The Boston Herald has been fairly level-headed about their coverage. They’ve even shared some interesting and inspiring stories about the clever ways people are getting by with less: it seems there’s some otherwise well-to-do ladies on Beacon Street in Boston who’ve been swapping some of their fancy clothes around among themselves since they’re having a hard time buying new stuff, and one even opened a small thrift store featuring gently used high-end clothing at bargain prices.

 

[FiremanFrank]

The media is actually not reporting ENOUGH of an alarm.

Things are bad, and they’re going to be getting much, much, worse.

Look at what these world economic trends forecasters (who have actually been RIGHT with their forecasts) have to say about what is currently going on …

Peter Schiff 3/6/09: **
“What we’re about to experience now, I think, is gonna be horrific. We’ve barely begun.” **
youtube.com/watch?v=U4cr_eE–cI&eurl=http://financialtruth0.blogspot.com/

Gerald Celente 3/3/09:
“Expect Hunger Riots all over.”
youtube.com/watch?v=WkeRD0AVNCo&feature=related

 

[celticsfan1983]

I encourage everyone to complain to their local and national news media, including those on the internet. They are promoting a wild-eyed and irrational hysteria over the current economic crisis. Words like carnage have been used to describe job losses, while a photo shows people calmly waiting in line, some with cell phones, looking for work or help.

So on our front pages, we should run stories about Rotary club meetings instead? People are interested in the economic crisis, so that ends up being the lead story on the front page because that is what sells newspapers and keeps page designers like myself employed. To say that we are “promoting” hysteria is laughably ludicrous. If we didn’t run those stories, we’d get angry calls from local readers wondering why we don’t run top national stories like the other newspaper does.

 

[edwest2]

The media is actually not reporting ENOUGH of an alarm.

Things are bad, and they’re going to be getting much, much, worse.

Look at what these world economic trends forecasters (who have actually been RIGHT with their forecasts) have to say about what is currently going on …

Peter Schiff 3/6/09: **
“What we’re about to experience now, I think, is gonna be horrific. We’ve barely begun.” **
youtube.com/watch?v=U4cr_eE–cI&eurl=http://financialtruth0.blogspot.com/

Gerald Celente 3/3/09:
“Expect Hunger Riots all over.”
youtube.com/watch?v=WkeRD0AVNCo&feature=related

You are just adding to the problem. Predicting the future is a bad idea. I know people who lived through the First Wall Street caused Depression and this is not as bad.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

So on our front pages, we should run stories about Rotary club meetings instead? People are interested in the economic crisis, so that ends up being the lead story on the front page because that is what sells newspapers and keeps page designers like myself employed. To say that we are “promoting” hysteria is laughably ludicrous. If we didn’t run those stories, we’d get angry calls from local readers wondering why we don’t run top national stories like the other newspaper does.

“sells newspapers”? I know a guy who is a production manager at a local newspaper. Employment is not the first concern, accurate, fair and useful news reporting is.

Hysteria is the correct word. I think newspapers should get angry calls from local readers complaining about using words like “carnage” and not reporting things in a more balanced fashion.

Like other newspapers do? What? You need them to tell you what to print? How many people see actual out of town newspapers?

Peace,
Ed

 

[celticsfan1983]

I’m referring to the competition in town. The USA Today and the state newspaper that sit in racks competing with my newspaper. If their front pages are more interesting and have better stories, people buy those papers. If that turns into a harsh daily trend, pretty soon we’ll start losing money from rack sales and pulled advertising due to that loss of those rack sales. And losing money is not a good job security component (just as the good folks at the Rocky Mountain News).

The other newspapers don’t tell us what to print. But if the economic situation is of importance to readers (which it is), we’d better have a story on it, cause the other guys will.

Are there some bad news practices? Yes. But most of the news you read from newspapers and hear from local tv stations is accurate and is “fair and balanced” as you so put it. Maybe all of this just makes you uncomfortable, and you need a scape goat. Blame the media, that’s always how it works, right?

And by the way, to all of us working, employment IS of first concern. Without it, we couldn’t provide the news that you are angry about.

 

[edwest2]

Most of the stories about the economic crisis are not fair and balanced. I work in the media and I know how it works.

I do not subscribe to any newspaper because I’ve watched as some major papers have slid down the hill morally.

Peace,
Ed

 

[celticsfan1983]

I work in the media and see the same AP stories you see. They are very well done, and not crazy one-sided anarchy predictions. Not all newspapers have slid morally though, so why not get a subscription and show support

 

[dixieagle]

From one whose husband has been employed by “local media” for 34 years, believe me when I say that some of the businesses in the most financial trouble today are media outlets - print and broadcast. Local papers are thinner and thinner, as they cut back because advertisers have pulled back. Paper after paper is going out of business, and that is not due only to the current economy, but due also to the fact that fewer and fewer people subscribe, as most younger people prefer to get their news, on demand, from the internet.

There are radical cutbacks, firings, layoffs, in many broadcast groups due to a steep drop in ad revenue; many broadcast groups are also shackled to failing print media, making the situation even worse. My husband’s group has stopped contributing to 401Ks, is not replacing people when they leave, and is having employees “do more with less”, as they say. They do not, thank God, have an affiliated sinking newspaper component, however.

So, many media outlets are, indeed, in the midst of “carnage”, with longtime employees fired, salary and benefit cuts, etc. I imagine we will see some stations simply give up on local news programs, with their attendant high salary costs. To many of our friends, all across the country, “carnage” is not too strong a word, and it’s not over by a long shot.

 

[edwest2]

The newspaper trade press is painting a different picture. The public is not told about it, but newspapers are very profitable, however, the perception is being spread that kids don’t read. Too often, these perceptions are promoted by people who want to make money in electronic media.

Kids, teens and adults get bored. They can’t and don’t play videogames 24 hours a day. The internet is big but worthwhile content is only a small percentage of that. And if the news goes around the world from the same handful of sources, there’s no real reason to do much shopping when many are saying the same thing.

Your perceptions are being manipulated by a handful of media organizations that not only tell you news but they tell you, this is important while something else is not. The media is just as partisan as any politician.

Right now, around the world, inventions that could save billions in energy costs are being rolled out. Do you know what they are? But ‘good news’ doesn’t sell, or so we are led to believe. I disagree. There is good news out there, but, alas, it doesn’t “sell” newspapers.

On balance, there is some worthwhile news published but it doesn’t get the endless repetition that the crisis stories do.

Peace,
Ed

 

[dixieagle]

The newspaper trade press is painting a different picture. The public is not told about it, but newspapers are very profitable, however, the perception is being spread that kids don’t read. Too often, these perceptions are promoted by people who want to make money in electronic media.

Kids, teens and adults get bored. They can’t and don’t play videogames 24 hours a day. The internet is big but worthwhile content is only a small percentage of that. And if the news goes around the world from the same handful of sources, there’s no real reason to do much shopping when many are saying the same thing.

Your perceptions are being manipulated by a handful of media organizations that not only tell you news but they tell you, this is important while something else is not. The media is just as partisan as any politician.

Right now, around the world, inventions that could save billions in energy costs are being rolled out. Do you know what they are? But ‘good news’ doesn’t sell, or so we are led to believe. I disagree. There is good news out there, but, alas, it doesn’t “sell” newspapers.

On balance, there is some worthwhile news published but it doesn’t get the endless repetition that the crisis stories do.

Peace,
Ed

Of course the newspaper trade press paints a rosy picture - they don’t want to admit that their industry is dying! Those folks actually in the journalism business (my husband has an M.A. in Journalism and teaches at a local Catholic college, in addition to his job in broadcast news) are in the trenches and see the trends, firsthand. Our friends in print journalism are holding their breath, as their coworkers lose their jobs and the paper gets thinner and thinner. I personally hate it - I love my morning paper and, though I do much online, I want that paper in my hands.

pewresearch.org/pubs/1133/decline-print-newspapers-increased-online-news

Whether you like to think so or not, the truth is that most young people simply do NOT read newspapers or news magazines, and get the bulk of their information from TV and the web.

www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/research/carnegie-knight/young_people_and_news_2007.pdf

It is frightening how ill-informed many young people are, with little or no sense of history. My husband is constantly appalled by the ignorance of current affairs exhibited by his JOURNALISM students - very, very scary.

And, yes, I am well aware of innovations in energy saving (wind energy, blue energy, new types of batteries, etc.) But that’s because I read, both print and web-based content.

 

[edwest2]

None of this is scary. I gave my niece a book for Christmas. She wasn’t impressed at first but now she’s an avid reader.

The News Media, including cnn.com, is doing a very bad job reporting on the economy. They are not looking into the Fed Chairman’s recent statement that “opaque deals” are being made on Wall Street. That Wall Street is not interested in seeing credit flowing – all they want are profits flowing, after a mess that they caused.

Kids still need to learn how to read so they can use their computers. I don’t see electronic media becoming more popular but they will be more aggressively marketed. I am already spending less time online, too much of the net is just a waste.

Peace,
Ed

 

[dixieagle]

None of this is scary. I gave my niece a book for Christmas. She wasn’t impressed at first but now she’s an avid reader.

The News Media, including cnn.com, is doing a very bad job reporting on the economy. They are not looking into the Fed Chairman’s recent statement that “opaque deals” are being made on Wall Street. That Wall Street is not interested in seeing credit flowing – all they want are profits flowing, after a mess that they caused.

Kids still need to learn how to read so they can use their computers. I don’t see electronic media becoming more popular but they will be more aggressively marketed. I am already spending less time online, too much of the net is just a waste.

Peace,
Ed

Wonderful about your niece. My daughters are both avid readers, but that is because they saw how we enjoyed it and books were a part of daily life, along with mountains of news magazines of all stripes, various Catholic literature, and two daily newspapers. Alas, it is not the norm.

I beg to differ, but the lack of interest in reading by young people is, indeed, very, very scary; your niece and our daughters are anomalies. I see how truly ignorant young college grads are of even recent history and don’t see it getting any better. Even when they’re on the 'net, they aren’t looking at news stories; “news” to them is Jon Stewart.

It is, of course, clear to anyone with eyes that each media outlet has its own axe to grind and its stories will, by and large, reflect its bias (e.g., CNN’s handling of the embryonic stem cell research story today - one sided in the extreme, unsurprisingly.)

I wish I could share your optimism about newspapers, but it is simply a matter of time before the print versions of many, if not most, of them fold.

news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090309/us_time/08599188378500

biz.yahoo.com/ap/090309/mcclatchy_job_cuts.html

 

[FiremanFrank]

You are just adding to the problem. Predicting the future is a bad idea. I know people who lived through the First Wall Street caused Depression and this is not as bad.

Peace,
Ed

I’m trying to be neither pessimistic OR optimistic.

I’m just being REALISTIC.

By ignoring that, you have chosen to become part of the problem.



So please, stop being part of the problem … and start becoming part of the solution.

 

[celticsfan1983]

You are just adding to the problem. Predicting the future is a bad idea. I know people who lived through the First Wall Street caused Depression and this is not as bad.

Just because this is “not as bad” doesn’t mean it isn’t terribly awful. It’s not an all or nothing type of thing. Try telling the many people who are losing jobs that this doesn’t compare to the great depression.

 

[dixieagle]

Just because this is “not as bad” doesn’t mean it isn’t terribly awful. It’s not an all or nothing type of thing. Try telling the many people who are losing jobs that this doesn’t compare to the great depression.

I think that it proves we haven’t learned much in the past 80 or so years. We all thought that the bubble would keep getting bigger, housing prices would always increase in value, and the sky was the limit for the stock market.

Industry after industry contracts, more people are laid off daily (another plant closure in my town announced today, and the economy here is better than many) and it appears that the monster of a “stimulus” package contains too much in the way of old fashioned pork to accomplish anything.

We have been proven terribly wrong, and I don’t think we’ve learned much in the last year, either.

 

[edwest2]

Wonderful about your niece. My daughters are both avid readers, but that is because they saw how we enjoyed it and books were a part of daily life, along with mountains of news magazines of all stripes, various Catholic literature, and two daily newspapers. Alas, it is not the norm.

I beg to differ, but the lack of interest in reading by young people is, indeed, very, very scary; your niece and our daughters are anomalies. I see how truly ignorant young college grads are of even recent history and don’t see it getting any better. Even when they’re on the 'net, they aren’t looking at news stories; “news” to them is Jon Stewart.

It is, of course, clear to anyone with eyes that each media outlet has its own axe to grind and its stories will, by and large, reflect its bias (e.g., CNN’s handling of the embryonic stem cell research story today - one sided in the extreme, unsurprisingly.)

I wish I could share your optimism about newspapers, but it is simply a matter of time before the print versions of many, if not most, of them fold.

news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090309/us_time/08599188378500

biz.yahoo.com/ap/090309/mcclatchy_job_cuts.html

I have no optimism about newspapers. And no, it’s not just a matter of time. Individual people make individual decisions. We are not all alike, and the media pushes the “everything is going to change” mantra constantly. TV was going to destroy the movies. Didn’t happen.

I would like to point out that the scary part about young people not reading or being interested in real news – The scary part is their parents who are not raising them. Who can’t be bothered. Who are taking them to the mall and dumping them there. Who, unlike my mom who did, aren’t taking them to a library or sitting down with them to read a book. The TV or computer becoming babysitters while the parent(s) sit and text their buddy.

That’s scary. But things could turn around quickly if mom and dad woke up and realized – Hey! These are my kids, my responsibility and it’s my job to raise them right.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

Just because this is “not as bad” doesn’t mean it isn’t terribly awful. It’s not an all or nothing type of thing. Try telling the many people who are losing jobs that this doesn’t compare to the great depression.

Why are you deflecting? Context is the issue. I’m saying the media is being irresponsible. They are abusing their readers/listeners/viewers. Too many blowhards are yelling and screaming about nothing. Making noise.

In the military, the leader does not keep morale up by telling lies or getting hysterical. A good leader tells his troops what they need to know and need to do to survive. The President, though I disagree with him on other things, is doing a very good job of leading. As far as I’m concerned, the Media has been doing the job of anti-Government propaganda.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

I think that it proves we haven’t learned much in the past 80 or so years. We all thought that the bubble would keep getting bigger, housing prices would always increase in value, and the sky was the limit for the stock market.

Industry after industry contracts, more people are laid off daily (another plant closure in my town announced today, and the economy here is better than many) and it appears that the monster of a “stimulus” package contains too much in the way of old fashioned pork to accomplish anything.

We have been proven terribly wrong, and I don’t think we’ve learned much in the last year, either.

We? We who?

Mortgage appraisers artificially raised home values. In some cases, doubling or tripling them:

businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jan2009/db20090118_003174.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index±+temp_news+%2B+analysis

This lying and greed caused the problem. Lies and greed. Nothing more.

Peace,
Ed