You are the reporter
Imagine, for just a moment, that you work for a major media publication (NY Times, Washington Post, or LA Times) as a reporter.
First of all, each of these publications has gone through serious economic downturns in the past three years. Declining readership and advertising has resulted in dramatic cuts. All three papers have laid off at least 10% or more of their workforce. Some of these companies are public firms. They have seen their stock price erode by as much as 75%. And you, as the loyal employee hold a lot of shares in the newspaper.
Then imagine, that you've purchased a house in one of these expensive markets (NY, Washington or LA) in the past three years, only to see the price on that home fall in value to a price that is below what you paid.
Finally, imagine you are now asked by your editor to write a story about the economy. Could you be unbiased in your reporting? Would you have a true picture of what's going on in the economy? Probably not. After all, the majority of (non-newspaper) firms are maintaining employment levels. With the exception of six states (NY, CA, FL, AZ, OH & MI) prices on homes are pretty firm.
But so much of our media is driven by the coasts that the current economic concerns that define NY and LA are possibly not fully reflective of the majority of the nation.
After all, throughout early 2008, we heard countless politicians and business "experts" talking about the recession we were experiencing. Well, the economic numbers came back for the first quarter of 2008, and in fact, the economy expanded by 1%.
My brother was traveling on the West Coast recently and picked up a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle - the largest newspaper in Northern California. Of the 24 articles in the first section of the newspaper, 12 articles had to do with global warming!
Just as the media elites attempt to set the political agenda for America, are they also guilty of looking at America through the very narrow prism of their own life?
First of all, each of these publications has gone through serious economic downturns in the past three years. Declining readership and advertising has resulted in dramatic cuts. All three papers have laid off at least 10% or more of their workforce. Some of these companies are public firms. They have seen their stock price erode by as much as 75%. And you, as the loyal employee hold a lot of shares in the newspaper.
Then imagine, that you've purchased a house in one of these expensive markets (NY, Washington or LA) in the past three years, only to see the price on that home fall in value to a price that is below what you paid.
Finally, imagine you are now asked by your editor to write a story about the economy. Could you be unbiased in your reporting? Would you have a true picture of what's going on in the economy? Probably not. After all, the majority of (non-newspaper) firms are maintaining employment levels. With the exception of six states (NY, CA, FL, AZ, OH & MI) prices on homes are pretty firm.
But so much of our media is driven by the coasts that the current economic concerns that define NY and LA are possibly not fully reflective of the majority of the nation.
After all, throughout early 2008, we heard countless politicians and business "experts" talking about the recession we were experiencing. Well, the economic numbers came back for the first quarter of 2008, and in fact, the economy expanded by 1%.
My brother was traveling on the West Coast recently and picked up a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle - the largest newspaper in Northern California. Of the 24 articles in the first section of the newspaper, 12 articles had to do with global warming!
Just as the media elites attempt to set the political agenda for America, are they also guilty of looking at America through the very narrow prism of their own life?
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