Hype and Fear in the News

[babylonsister]

Hype and Fear in the News

David Cay Johnston, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his innovative coverage of our tax system, retired this year as a investigative reporter for The New York Times. He is the author of Free Lunch: How The Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expenses (and Stick You with the Bill).



Now that the House has rejected the $700 billion bailout, what we have to fear is not fear itself, but fear-mongering--particularly by our leading news organizations.

Katie Couric opened the "CBS Evening News" last night with video of the House clerk declaring the 205-228 vote, and then she said, "That sets off the biggest decline in stock prices ever."

Wrong.

Brian Williams opened the "NBC Nightly News" with the same error, saying it was "the worst single day drop ever."

These are not minor errors. They are profound, ridiculous, amateur-hour errors that surely frightened many people, especially in the context of the tone of the coverage. The stock market has had much bigger one-day declines. How about right after 9/11? How about 1987, when the Dow fell 22 percentage points, more than three times the slightly less than 7 percent drop Monday?

ABC was almost as bad. Charles Gibson read from his teleprompter words that were technically accurate, but so misleading that the effect was to instill fear in the hearts of millions who did not catch the technicality. He reported "the biggest one-day point drop" in the stock market.

That's scary unless you know what it means.

As my friend Fred Brock, one of the best copy editors who ever worked at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, said when I read him the transcripts last night: "That doesn't mean anything; it's utterly meaningless."

more...

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/30/hype-and-fear-in-the-news.aspx

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I think that most of those people in the media do not really understand the bailout..

like most of us here.
But I do believe this is definitely an attempt to force something down our throats that we would reject if we had time to examine it.
Those voices that I respect, Dennis Kucinich, for one...seem to feel the same way.
The media is making it look like if we don't do something IMMEDIATELY, everyone of us will be in the streets peddling pencils from a cup by this weekend.
This thread goes into some of the reasoning behind this attempt to induce panic in the people of this country..and why this bill is economic suicide for us.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x203700

Here is another excellent, clear and rational explanation of what is going on by ProfessorGAC.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4132114&mesg_id=4133119


The media is being used to create panic and fear. It is sad that we are still so easily manipulated.
I would like to know how many of those that are recommending this bill, have actually read it..and know what the consequences could be.

EDITED FOR SPELLING

[tblue]

2. I heard an economist on Randi Rhodes say that Bush was so irresponsible to instill fear

and to call up images of gloom & doom. VERY irresponsible and inappropriate. That alone could have been why there were runs on WaMu and other banks -- because Bush told the American people to be afraid, be very afraid. He loves to drum up hysteria and has no idea the damage that alone does.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. He set up a self-fulfilling prophecy.

He is an idiot...but he is being manipulated by the Neo-Cons and the Fundies who know exactly what they are doing. They want this fear to be rampant. That is one of their strongest weapons.
Reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode where aliens come to earth. They start pulling tricks on a neighborhood, so that eventually all these neighbors who were once friends, turn on each other and of course, there is a violent ending.

[defendandprotect]

4. Bail out ...."Fueled by fear"

[moodforaday]

5. K&R

:kick: