Why is the media distorting economic news?

I'm no longer wondering if the media is distorting economic news, to make our economic
situation appear more positive---I want to know WHY they're doing this.

Today, in a Money/CNN article thea headline screamed, "Unemployment rate down in 21 States".

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/22/news/economy/State_unemployment/index.htm?postversion=2009052212

Buried deep in this article, was the sentence that should have been the headline, "Nationally, the unemployment rate rose to 8.9% in April, up from 8.5% a month earlier."

In effect--Unemployment rose, but we got a rosy headline.

Furthermore, as I watched the local news in Iowa, a local employment expert commented on this article. Iowa is one of
the 21 states mentioned as having a lower unemployment rate. This local expert said that unemployment always goes
down this time of year. It's the natural effect of more seasonal jobs becoming available in construction, life guarding,
landscaping and other summer jobs. However these jobs are temporary. This local expert went on to say that Iowa's unemployment rate decrease
was almost insignificant, and there would have to be a few consecutive months of decreasing unemployment to signal
a good-news trend.

So the truth is--the unemployment rate always goes down a bit during this time of year. This certainly isn't evidence of
an economic recovery--as this article leads us to believe. Especially, when unemployment rose from March to April.

I am really wondering WHY this is happening. Seems like a simple question, but I wonder if the answers ARE so simple.

Is the media simply trying to encourage optimism? Or is this something more underhanded? Is the media--which is beholden to the
corporations--trying to entice people back into the stock markets or back into rampant spending patterns--in order to line
the pockets of the elites who run these corporations?

I'm tired of these statistic-twisting articles that create "green shoots" and "silver linings" out of bad news.

I want to know why the mainstream media is lying to us about the economy.

I remember jsut a while back when Pres Obama went from gloom and doom to a more positive outlook.

...concerted effort to shift from gloom-and-doom to more positive news.

I guess it's possible that Obama said to media members, that it's not helping for talking heads
to constantly have their hair on fire, acting as if we're entering a Great Depression. After all, in
late 2008, the reporting was total drama gloom and doom.

So, it's possible that someone said that it wasn't going to help if the media constantly reported
negatively and that we should try to find the silver linings.

I have no problem with accentuating the positive. What I don't like is that FACTS are managed by
these people. Just give us the damn statistics. If unemployment is up--tell us that. Don't
cull the one positive statistic and then twist it into some misleading headline that paints
the world in rainbows.

We're adults. We don't need fear and we don't need silver linings. Just give us the facts.

It's so irritating. We're not children who need to be managed and controlled.

...which is why I posed all of this as a question...but the motivations seem to transcend Obama.

I noticed major, really awful lies and statistic twisting going on in January and February. Banks
that had rec'd bailouts were reporting "record profits", but later we discovered that these numbers
were fudged and due to write-downs, creative accounting and other games.

Then, the housing numbers came out in Jan, as well. We were told that housing starts were up, but later
we learned that this was almost entirely due to new apartment construction. In effect, it was bad news--because
more people were wanting to rent and lacked the confidence to buy. However, that bit of news was packaged
up as a sign of economic recovery.

It just feels like there are other corporate forces at play...

their job is to manage perception, and they are quite good at it.

..... that most of the current economic crisis is due to psychology, not due to the fact that people have fallen too far behind from the inflation we had since 2001 to continue to afford to continue spending money to keep the economy afloat.

Its nothing new, its the same reason the "experts" and the government couldnt admit there WAS a crisis early last year, even though the average American was in deep trouble keeping up with their bills with $4.50 gasoline.

If they arent careful they will appear completely out of touch, much like Bush sr. in 1992.

objective it is to reduce the American middle class to a standard of living not much more affluent than that of a Chinese factory worker or the http://www.theinsider.org/news/article.asp?id=2276">garment workers of Bangladesh, among others.

"They" want to reduce us to a new class...of slaves.

with the mortgage crisis. Since then I've spent more time watching the economy and following events online than I have participating at DU. And, I work at home at my leisure so I have all day every day to do my research and, in my honest opinion, generally most of DU seems to be rather oblivious as to just how bad the economy and the world's financial system is. Sure, there are many DUers who are watching it. But, it's clear from the general lack of concern for the big picture, and the absense of panic, that most just don't know what's on the horizon.

As for your commentary on the msm's treatment of economic news, I couldn't agree more. Watching CNBC repeat "We've reached a bottom" or "Do you think we've reached the bottom" or "So and so will be with us in a moment to discuss whether or not we're seeing a bottom in markets". It got so bad when the DOW and S&P tanked a couple months ago that it was like Chinese Water Torture. Drip, drip, drip...AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!11!1!

Now, it's all about the recovery. No mention that the recovery is being financed by suckers, the Fed, and taxpayers. And sure as hell no words to the effect that it's unsustainable.

...because all I see is a house of cards--with the media manipulating reality and a government inflating
a few more bubbles before the entire thing crashes.

Like you, I have spent countless hours researching the economy. I have a degree in economics, which doesn't
help much when you're trying to figure out what is happening--but my interest in the subject keeps me researching.

I'm home all day too, and I probably have too much time to delve into WTF-mode---spelunking for information that will
help me understand what is happening and what is on the horizon. You literally, have to peel back the MSM curtain and
look at raw data and read alternative media to get at the truth. Reminds me of the "Wizard of Oz".

I was practically applauding when you wrote about the media constantly calling "the bottom". Oy vey! How many DU posts have
I started about that subject? MSNBC and CNN were calling the bottom every day. Another one of my favorites
was, "What a great time to buy stocks! Everything is on sale!". :eyes:

I also noticed an onslaught of statistics-twisting stories during mid Jan-March. Headlines like, "Housing Starts Are Up!"
were positioned as evidence that happy days are here again. However, anyone wanalyzing the data could debunk that headline.
Housing starts were up because of increased apartment construction--which was a negative indicator. People were renting apartments,
as opposed to buying houses because of decreased confidence. Surely, not a sign of a burgeoning economy. The banks
were relentless with their fake news--which many times drove the stock market up hundreds of points. Gack.

I've been pretty discombobulated during the first part of 2009--because I lacked a clear understanding of what is
happening in our economy. I am feeling more comfortable--as I realize that the confusion is coming from the MSM's reality-distorting
memes. I'm not happy about what they're doing--but at least I understand the source of the confusion. Every damn time they can
twist a statistic into a silver lining--they do. You really have to do forensics when you're wading through these MSM
stories--and look at the stats yourself. Then you find the truth, which isn't pretty.

This is why I asked "Why?" is the MSM doing this. What and who is driving all of this?

I was in major economic research mode three years ago. I'm no genius, for Pete's sake, but I saw the housing crisis, the
credit crisis and the coming unemployment so clearly. It seemed obvious to me that it would crash. All I did was
pay attention to my surroundings and do some reading. When we bought a house four years ago, and the mortgage broker tried
to talk us into an interest-only ARM that had all kinds of creative financing attached--that was a red flag for me that many
homeowners would eventually default. Our mortgage broker treated us like defectives for not "taking advantage of this great financing".
She had to actually search for the paperwork to do a conventional, fixed-rate mortgage. Signs in McMansion yards that read,
"Get in this house for only $900 a month!" were also a big, red flag. Also, anyone paying attention to the rampant credit-card
spending and people using their homes as ATMS--understood that this bubble was going to blow too.

I have a friend who is a CNN talking head. I see her on television daily. I'm convinced that she is absolutely clueless
about the meme--that she is spreading. If she says, "green shoot" or "silver lining" one more time, I'm going to scream.
She reports on what they tell her to report on. This is coming from higher up. It's a deliberate directive.

Sorry so long...I am still an average schlep trying to figure out what is happening and how I can prepare. Very glad to hear that
others are researching, reading alternative stuff and understanding that there is truth beyond the headlines--and in order to
survive whatever is coming--you have to deal with (and find) reality.

All I did was open my eyes and realize it's all too good to be true. What goes up, must come down, nothing stays the same forever, businesses shutting down and unemployment increasing.

Why is the media distorting economic news? It's all about perception, it's a holiday weekend, the beginning of summer, there's nothing to worry about, have fun, spend money, invest in the stock market, etc. I see this continuing until appx Labor Day, when summer ends. That's when all those layoffs from the shutdowns of Chrysler and GM, factories and dealers, will show that reality is stronger than perception. Thousands (millions?) will have no job, less money to spend, perhaps not be able to make house/rent payments. When school starts, there will be no denying that the economy is dire.

It will be curious to see how the media will be able to continue to distort economic news this autumn.

Edit: I would like to think that this fake feel-good summer is giving Obama and team more time to plan what to do when the stock market crashes and we slide into a global depression.