The "Flailing Economy" and Media Bias
"Flailing economy"? Your view of the economy must be based on the "touchy feely" subjective perceptions of the economy generated by the major news media.
Look at the numbers. The economy is most definitely NOT flailing. A job growth somewhat under what was expected--yes. However, by any objective analysis, the across-the-board numbers show that the economy is emerging from the recession.
Fortunately (for Kerry right now), employment is one of the last numbers to start improving after the economy emerges from a recession. However, even with less-than-expected employment growth last quarter (notice that it's GROWTH, not contraction) the numbers are pretty good. I suppose you're probably thinking at this point, "Yeah, but not as good as under Clinton." In fact, the numbers look better now than they did in 1996 when Clinton was running for re-election--and the strong economy was likely a major factor in his victory. Let's look at some facts:
Fact: In 1996, the unemployment rate was a low 6.2%; today it's an even lower 5.5%
Fact: In 1996, the inflation rate was a low 2.6%; today, it's an even lower 1.9%
Fact: In 1996, mortgage rates were moderate 7.81%; today, they are in the 5% range and near the lowest they've been indecades.
Fact: The economy is growing (not shrinking); we have emerged from the recession (a recession which began at the end of the Clinton administration, not during the Bush administration--a fact that virtually all economists would agree upon).
Despite all of this, the major media continues to focus primarily on anything negative they find in the numbers, leaving the general impression that we're in a continuing recession. This reminds me of 1992 during George H.W. Bush's re-election bid. The media relentlessly focused on the bad news in the economy--even though the economy started improving well before the election. Immediately after Clinton won the election, the major media's reporting on the economy became positive. Fortunately (for Bush), the economic recovery has a longer head start in his term than it had during his father's, so by November, things should be looking a lot better economically, so the media coverage will likely become more positive, because there will be fewer places to find negative numbers.
I'm not suggesting a media conspiracy here (I don't generally hold to conspiratorial views); however, it is obvious that the media is biased toward the left. The fact that most of the mainstream media hold views decidedly to the left of the general population is well documented. It is impossible for *anyone* to be completely unbiased because we all see things through the glasses of our own philosophical viewpoint. The primary way the bias in the major news media comes through is not by their overtly injecting their views into their reporting , rather it's in what they *choose* to report, and the questions they choose to ask. They select what they think is important. All of us naturally, subconsciously tend to notice (and remember) facts that support our view of the world, and disregard (and forget) facts that don't. Because most news reporters have decidedly more liberal viewpoint than the general population, the topics they select (and questions they ask) during interviews tend to reflect that bias--even when they think they're being objective.
The only effective way to combat bias in the media is to ensure that there is a balance of philosophical viewpoints (conservative and liberal) among the media personnel. |
