Housing
LA Times Owner Blames US Economic Problems on Clinton and Obama
February 27th, 2008 9:54 AM
For years, NewsBusters and the Business and Media Institute have informed readers about how the press, since George W. Bush was first elected, have tried to create a self-fulfilling prophecy by misrepresenting economic data in as negative a way as possible.This is likely the cause of the public's continued pessimism about economic conditions even as the economy has expanded for 25 consecutive…
NYT’s Warped Sense of 'Average
February 22nd, 2008 6:53 PM
Perhaps the average New York Times reader makes $250,000 a year, but the average American family? Not quite.And yet the Times, and its media colleagues, continue to feature sob stories from rich families in stories supposed to illustrate the pain the housing “crisis” is causing for middle- and lower-income families. “Not since the Depression has a larger share of Americans owed more on their…
AP Maximizes Negativity in Covering Realtors' Housing Report
February 15th, 2008 10:03 PM
Granted, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is a trade organization which will, as trade organizations do, try to put the best face on a bad situation. And granted, part of the press's job is to filter through hype and false sunniness to report the truth of what's really going on. But that is most emphatically not what the Associated Press did with yesterday's NAR report on the state of…
'GMA' Warns Recession Fears Are Causing Arsons
February 11th, 2008 2:50 PM
Just when you thought the economic doom and gloom couldn't get any worse in the news, "Good Morning America" has determined recession is now causing arson. "We have news this morning on the home foreclosure front, word that cash-strapped homeowners are taking desperate measures," ABC co-host Diane Sawyer said. The February 11 "GMA" has determined "cash-strapped homeowners" are taking "…
Countrywide’s Mozilo Gives Up $37.5 Million; 'American Morning' Stil
January 28th, 2008 5:07 PM
In a class-warfare driven media, where the "haves" are often pitted against "have-nots," you would think an outgoing CEO giving up $37.5 million in pay would be celebrated. Not quite. CNN's "American Morning" didn't think it was quite good enough when Countrywide Financial's Angelo Mozilo forfeited $37.5 million in severance pay because he said he felt it was the "right thing to do." "It's…
Jon Stewart Mocks Financial Networks: 'Hot Ladies Talk Money with Bald
January 24th, 2008 8:33 PM
It's really frightening to imagine that people who get the bulk of their news from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" will be making what they probably think are educated decisions at the ballot box come Election Day. Stewart, who is now a self-proclaimed economist, said on his January 23 show, "Our economy is tanking." And now you can add financial media critic to Stewart's…
Soros Calls for Government Control of Markets, Even If It Means ‘Wip
January 23rd, 2008 5:11 PM
Billionaire investor George Soros called for more government monitoring and involvement in markets in an interview on CNBC January 23."Now we really have to reconsider the whole policy, which has been in my opinion misplaced, of relying on the markets to police themselves," Soros told Maria Bartiromo in Davos, Switzerland, "to recognize the risks. And there are risks which it is the job of the…
U.S. News & World Report Editor Compares Credit Crisis to the Great De
January 21st, 2008 5:06 PM
It's no longer enough to say the economy is heading into or already is in a recession. Invoking the memory of the Great Depression has become the latest way to dramatize the economic turmoil caused by the credit markets. "[I] think we are facing the worst financial crunch and crisis since the Great Depression," Mort Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report, said on the…
Newsweek’s One-Sided, but Blunt Reporting: 'The Economy Sucks
January 16th, 2008 8:37 AM
The headline "The Economy Sucks" might be something you'd expect to see in Rolling Stone or on Slate.com, but certainly not in a reputable news magazine, right? Yet, the January 21 issue of Newsweek defied expectations by using that for part of a headline for a one-sided, pro-Bill Clinton view of the economy. The article recalled the 1992 "It's the economy, stupid!" campaign as it tore down…
WSJ/CNBC Question Greenspan’s Integrity for Post-Fed Career
January 15th, 2008 3:58 PM
You might disagree with how he slashed the Fed funds rate during times of economic turmoil as Federal Reserve chairman. You might have even disavowed him after showing his coziness with the Clinton administration throughout the 1990s. But after 18 years of public service, you can't deny that Alan Greenspan should have a shot in the private sector. However, despite media accolades through…
‘Nightly News’ Spreads Fear Over Reverse Mortgages
January 11th, 2008 3:57 PM
Never underestimate the power of the media when it comes to taking something completely legitimate and distorting its image as if it is some shady racket. The January 10 "NBC Nightly News" gave that impression about reverse mortgages - a special type of home loan that allows a homeowner to convert some of the equity in his or her home into cash. These loans are geared toward senior citizens,…
‘Early Show’ Misrepresents Bloomberg Survey on Recession Chances
January 9th, 2008 11:06 PM
This is worse than a case of calling a glass "half-empty" when it is "half-full." This is like taking the glass and pouring it out. Deirdre Bolton, an anchor for Bloomberg TV, appeared on CBS's January 9 "The Early Show" to report on a survey of economists Bloomberg conducted January 3-8 about whether or not a recession is in the immediate future of the U.S. economy. "[W]ell, as you said the…