Why has the press been so negative about the economy, even before there was something to be negative about? Is it politically motivated? Are they actually trying to use the power of the press to influence the election? (Well, yes.)
But there’s more, and at the same time less, to it than that.
Two recent blog posts brought the real reason to light.
The first was Tam’s post on the definitions of some economic terms:
Downturn: You hear that people have lost their jobs.
Recession: Someone you know has lost their job.
Depression: You have lost your job.
Then this post from John at Power Line:
“If it happens, it will be taken as refutation of the relatively conservative consensus that has influenced government policies since the early 1980s–a consensus under which a great many people have flourished, but not, notably, reporters and editors.”
And there you have it. The reason the press thinks the economy has been bad for the last eight years is because THEY are in a structural downturn in their industry. The objective press is too caught up in their own affairs to take an objective look at the economy. The people writing the articles all know someone who has lost their job, therefore we are in a recession and have been for two decades.
It’s not a plot, it’s not a conspiracy. It’s just normal people doing what normal people do, which is hanging around the water cooler, gossiping about what’s going on in their lives. Only, they’ve confused their lives with the rest of us and because they have the major media TV/Radio/Newspaper soapbox instead of the water cooler, we hear a false message about the state of the economy.
Just more evidence, if you needed it, that the media isn’t objective. And another reason to make sure your news doesn’t come from one source.
brilliantly stated.