Wednesday, June 10, 2020

How jobless data is reported shows media is not a monolith

Two of the nation's leading papers just proved that the so-called mainstream media is hardly the monolith which critics are fond of alleging. 

From The New York Times Wednesday afternoon:

Fed Expects Unemployment Rate to Stay High: 
The Fed painted a grim view for the economy: Unemployment will stay elevated for years, after ending 2020 at 9.3 percent.
From The Washington Post, same time frame: 
Federal Reserve predicts unemployment will fall to 9.3 percent by end of 2020
Federal Reserve leaders predict the U.S. unemployment will fall to 9.3 percent by the end of this year and 6.5 percent by the end of 2021, signaling confidence the economy will begin to recover in coming months from the stunning recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak. 
(I know the Post has moved, but this is where my Dad worked for decades as a business and finance journalist, so to me, this is still the Post.)

 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really. This proves the media is not highly concentrated and largely walks in lock=stop.

I know you are a veteran news guy and stand up for the media. Especially newspapers.

I won't take the time and do not want this comment to be interpreted as disrespectful as it is not. But I could go across Gannet, NYT, and Washington post and find more examples of questionable monolithic media reports than this single example.

Almost all Black Lives Matters coverage is distorted. But don't take my word for it, get out and talk to Frank Nitty while he is in action. Last weekend, the media lied that there was pushing with a bicycle. It never happened like widely reported in monolithic media.

Post is Amazon, so no surprise at their report. Its probably false.

James Rowen said...

Your last line really undermines your comment.

Anonymous said...

Of 152 State Street businesses, 40 reportedly won't reopen because of civil unrest, rioting and related violence. Mainstream media knows who funds the police. Why isn't the funding for Freedom Inc., Urban Triage and the Party for Socialism reported?

James Rowen said...

It has been reported. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/daniel-bice/2020/06/02/group-leading-madison-protests-paid-millions-state-tax-dollars/5316822002/