Guest
10-11-2008, 10:04 AM
I'm one of those remote control, news channel flipping husbands who drives my wife crazy by changing channels midstream in a story. I tell her I like to compare the spin and biases transmitted to America by the network and cable news establishment. She thinks I'm nuts and occasionally banishes me to the back room and small television so she can watch a program in its entirety. I do the same thing with football games.
To the point. I have observed a common thread in the media coverage of the crisis. I have recently watched young news people, male and female, who know less than I do about economics and that's not very much, making alarming, sweeping statements, with great authority about the fluctuations in the DOW during the crisis. Interrupting a story, with news bulletin intensity, they emphatically say things like, "Look at that, the DOW has fallen 200 points and the market just opened, how far will it fall today" , "the green thing is gone, the DOW is dropping fast" "Look at that, the DOW is climbing rapidly, it's a good sign we're up 230 points, it looks like the worst is over"
Folks, they are broadcasters...not economists.
Factor in the media's alarming overstatements about the market or economy at what amounts to nothing more than a moment in time. I could make a case that they are a big part of the problem. In the age of instant gratification starting with the "me" generation, there seems to be an expectation in the media that the crisis will turn on a single event and nobody wants to miss the call. How many investors react to the panic in the voice of these "entertainers" and pull out or buy on impulse without reasoned calculation. Our news people need to chill, take a breath, take a Xanax or some other substance to moderate and temper their excited delivery of news that alarms viewers and...IMHO...has added to the panic we are experiencing. We miss you Tony Snow and Tim Russert.
I believe the media reporting on the crisis and Wall Street need a one day holiday to catch their breath and re-approach the issue with the the type of clarity and objectivity that separation from the source of anxiety and frustration can bring. Come to think of it, we all need to take a break. But, that's just me the channel flipper.
To the point. I have observed a common thread in the media coverage of the crisis. I have recently watched young news people, male and female, who know less than I do about economics and that's not very much, making alarming, sweeping statements, with great authority about the fluctuations in the DOW during the crisis. Interrupting a story, with news bulletin intensity, they emphatically say things like, "Look at that, the DOW has fallen 200 points and the market just opened, how far will it fall today" , "the green thing is gone, the DOW is dropping fast" "Look at that, the DOW is climbing rapidly, it's a good sign we're up 230 points, it looks like the worst is over"
Folks, they are broadcasters...not economists.
Factor in the media's alarming overstatements about the market or economy at what amounts to nothing more than a moment in time. I could make a case that they are a big part of the problem. In the age of instant gratification starting with the "me" generation, there seems to be an expectation in the media that the crisis will turn on a single event and nobody wants to miss the call. How many investors react to the panic in the voice of these "entertainers" and pull out or buy on impulse without reasoned calculation. Our news people need to chill, take a breath, take a Xanax or some other substance to moderate and temper their excited delivery of news that alarms viewers and...IMHO...has added to the panic we are experiencing. We miss you Tony Snow and Tim Russert.
I believe the media reporting on the crisis and Wall Street need a one day holiday to catch their breath and re-approach the issue with the the type of clarity and objectivity that separation from the source of anxiety and frustration can bring. Come to think of it, we all need to take a break. But, that's just me the channel flipper.