July 07, 2011

Media sugar coat jobs crisis

Corporate-controlled media outlets have a long history of subtle (and not-so-subtle) slanting of the news, favoring conservative and corporate viewpoints. Problems experienced primarily by low and moderate income people are portrayed as temporary or even necessary 'belt-tightening,' requiring no action, while problems for banks and the wealthy demand urgent action from government.
Reporting on the continuing jobs deficit continues that trend, with the Washington Post spinning a Pew report as "Men Getting Jobs Faster Than Women".

Contrary to the headline that emphasizes people 'getting jobs', as economist Dean Baker notes, the employment to population ratio (the percent of people over age 20 who are employed) has fallen for both men and women since the recession ended in June of 2009.

That's right, the percent of people with jobs has dropped, not only during the crisis for Wall Street, but since the recession was declared over. Another "jobless recovery" anyone?

Two headlines, one crisis

the Chicago Tribune's highlighted web business section this morning featured the two headlines below:

Wall Street set to extend gains

Leaving aside that the term "rebound" falsely implies the exact opposite of what is happening and continues the delusion that housing prices can or should 'rebound' back to bubble-inflated prices, those of us paying attention realize these are actually the same story: Wall Street recklessness and corporate greed fueled the housing bubble, crashed the economy and these CEOs extended their gains going up and down.