Media Maelstrom: The basic unfairness when Big Media downplays Biden's accomplishments
Blame three things: negativity bias, a knowledge gap, and the fear of looking partisan
The stock market certainly noticed last week when new data showed that inflation had slowed to a mere 3 percent: the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the week about 800 points higher than it had started.
But did most Americans notice?
You could hardly blame citizens if they missed this undoubtedly good news, since much of the mainstream media handled it with a blasé shrug. That was a far cry from the constant, four-alarm coverage when prices were rising quickly last year. Recall, for example, the ubiquitous media images of soaring gas prices at the pump (and granted, that was an important, pocket-book story for most people).
But last Wednesday, not so much.
CNN’s web site carried a huge scary headline about soaring prices — in India — with a whispered voice for the American news: “US inflation hit a two-year low. What this means for consumers.”
Fox News’s site was obsessed, as usual, with Hunter Biden, and a meant-to-outrage story about drug dealers getting free legal help.
The Washington Post told the inflation news prominently, but quickly provided teasers to two negative stories — one about “buy now, pay later” schemes that consumers are using to contend with high grocery prices, and another about how businesses are cutting workers’ hours “in a warning sign for the economy.”
The New York Times heralded “good news for consumers,” but couldn’t seem to resist a snipe with this related headline: “President Biden took credit for the latest economic data.” If CBS and ABC even featured the story on their news websites Wednesday afternoon, I couldn’t find it by scrolling through their major stories.
This all-too-familiar treatment makes a difference, especially with right-wing outlets doing their best to portray Biden as senile and incompetent.
“Historically, a president running for reelection with a 3% inflation rate and 3.6% unemployment rate would be pretty much a shoo-in,” noted Richard Tofel, the longtime president of ProPublica and an astute, nonpartisan political observer.
Then his chaser: “Also, historically, the press wasn’t afraid to say when the economy was strong.” Our inflation rate contrasts sharply with other western countries: Nearly 9 percent in the UK; and both Germany and Italy at over 6 percent.
Meanwhile, Biden’s approval ratings remain low — around 43 percent. And one media narrative that is extremely easy to find is that many Democrats and independents believe he shouldn’t run again.
Why does this happen? I see three reasons:
The press has a well-known negativity bias. Journalists prefer stories filled with conflict, finding them more compelling and more likely to generate clicks. Biden’s strong economic record doesn’t fit the bill. Isn’t it much more fun to deal with the red meat of culture wars, or whether Biden has a fiery temper?
Journalists, in general, may not always have the economic knowledge or patience to delve into the policy details of “Bidenomics.” In the American Prospect, Harold Meyerson slammed the “piss-poor job that most of the media have done in reporting — or even understanding — his economic programs.” These include Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package which, he writes, “stands as the most effective anti-recessionary policy in American history.”
My own theory, which I floated in the Washington Post at the beginning of the Biden administration: The mainstream press is freaked out by the fact that many journalists share Biden’s basic values of decency, respect for the rule of law and a predilection for human rights. But they don’t want to be seen as “in the tank” for this administration, so they twist themselves into knots to find the negative.
What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. You can also find me on Twitter, BlueSky or Threads (yes, I’m hedging my social-media bets as Elon Musk continues to destroy his impulse purchase).
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