Fueling the economic panic
Do headlines such as "World markets tumble" and "No end in sight as losses rise" and "'We're in a hell of a mess'" fuel the panic over the financial collapse?
Some members of our readers advisory panel think so.
I think the media is helping to drag down the economy. All we hear is gloom and doom. People are afraid and you contribute to it. Don't be a Pollyanna, but could you not be so totally negative. How about a story about media negativity?
I'm tired or reading about gloom and doom. We need some uplifting stories. All we hear on the news every night is more of the same. At least give me something worthwhile to read.
This illustrates one of the balancing acts that some request of the news media: Report the bad news in its full glory while still providing a sense of hope. With some news stories -- particularly these scary ones -- there's no way to put lipstick on the pig.
Do we fuel the panic? If so, what should we do with stories like these that affect every single person negatively?
Comments (7)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
Right. If the N&R changes its headlines, the world economic crisis will be "all better." Go ahead, wield your 'mightier-than-the-sword-or-the-dollar' power. My 401K appreciates it.
Posted on October 10, 2008 4:22 PM
Some people might say that those who can't handle the truth shouldn't read newspapers, but I think you should run more photos of kittens and rainbows.
Posted on October 10, 2008 8:43 PM
I have personally advocated for more kittens and animal photos (Knut the polar bear!), but that darn news just keeps getting in the way.
Posted on October 10, 2008 9:19 PM
Didn't the president try the old rainbows and kittens version of economic stability, by saying we weren't in a downturn? Fat lot of good all that positivity did.
Posted on October 11, 2008 12:30 AM
This is really interesting, because my sense is that the media were really late to the story on this, and the markets (stock and credit) are reacting to the lack of clear information from their own members, rather than the reporting from the media.
Posted on October 11, 2008 6:37 AM
John,
It really seems like the "good" news is skipped over. For example, I recently sent you all a release stating that my employer has saw a 22% increase in closed mortgages for the month of September, the exact opposite of the Triad home sales trend. Why are we doing well? We did not take part in subprime. There is positive news out there... you just have to choose to run them.
Ryan
Posted on October 11, 2008 7:43 AM
Ryan:
You might want to take a look at the Oct. 2 story I wrote about how community banks are staying strong, even amid the problems with our local banks.
It shows clearly that we were looking for the good news just as the sky was falling around us.
Posted on October 12, 2008 10:02 PM