Latest Blogs

Amy Menefee | December 22, 2005
     In newspapers, placement is everything. Put a story on the front page above the fold, and everyone can see it as they walk by the newsstand. But hide it deep in the nether-sections, and only Grandpa…
BMI Staff | December 21, 2005

New from the Business…

Dan Gainor | December 21, 2005
     The Christmas shopping season culminated a strong year for the U.S. economy. But instead of ringing out the old year and toasting the economys success, 43 percent of Americans think were in a…
Noel Sheppard | December 21, 2005
     Ever since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in late August sending oil prices to $70 per barrel and gasoline above $3 a gallon, the media have been in a panic over a return of 70s-style inflation. Such…
Ken Shepherd | December 21, 2005
     Ringing alarm bells about record greenhouse gas emissions, New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin opened his December 21 article noting the U.S. Energy Department reports U.S. emissions…
Ken Shepherd | December 20, 2005
     Opening their newscasts with the New York City transit strike, the December 20 morning news programs focused on the inconvenience to commuters and the expected cost to the city, but only CNN, CBS, and…
Ken Shepherd | December 19, 2005
     Regardless of whether a strike is called or a settlement is reached, warned Chan and Greenhouse, the labor struggle over the transit contract has highlighted one fact: Many workers feel they lack dignity…
Charles Simpson | December 15, 2005
     Lou Dobbs wants answers. In his December 14 broadcast of CNNs Lou Dobbs Tonight, the business anchor gathered torches and pitchforks in response to the news of an overall trade deficit [that] hit…
Ken Shepherd | December 15, 2005
     Lower energy prices have spurred a significant drop in consumer prices according to a December 15 report from a federal agency that tracks economic data. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U…
BMI Staff | December 14, 2005

The Media’s Top 10 Economic Myths of 2005

See Executive Summary

“So people at home right now are saying, ‘Economic slowdown? How slow is it going to go?’ Are we headed for another recession?”– Anchor John Roberts, “CBS Evening…

BMI Staff | December 14, 2005

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 It was difficult to wade through the economic news of 2005. Gloom and doom overwhelmed any rational examination of the U.S. economy. Journalists were so obsessed with their negative outlooks that they set aside reason and…

BMI Staff | December 14, 2005

New from the Business…

Ken Shepherd | December 12, 2005
     Forecasting a bleak sweater-swaddled winter for middle class Americans on the December 12 Evening News, CBS correspondent Jim Axelrod exaggerated the rise of natural gas heating costs by about…
Ken Shepherd | December 12, 2005
     The crew of CNNs In the Money opened their December 10 program warning about a bursting housing bubble, but an interview with a Harvard housing expert quickly deflated that story line.     …
Ken Shepherd | December 9, 2005
     Stacking the deck against Merck and Co., Inc., reporters for The New York Times and USA Today presented an allegation that the prescription drug maker tampered with results in its own study. The…
Dan Gainor | December 9, 2005
     Oil companies are evil and the root of that evil is Americas endless thirst for oil. At least thats the spin of the new movie Syriana, which the media have called powerful, ambitious and Something…
R. Warren Anderson | December 8, 2005
     A company that has lowered food prices by more than the government food stamp program in 2005 and has donated millions upon millions of dollars to charitable causes is a Goliath and similar to a god…
Charles Simpson | December 8, 2005
     If aliens landed on Earth and picked up the cover of the December 8 Washington Post, theyd think the House of Representatives were a bunch of reckless advocates of tax cuts that do nothing to help the…
Ken Shepherd | December 8, 2005
     The same network that brings you Anderson Cooper 360 should consider a new show hosted by one of its business reporters: Andy Serwer 180.      CNNs Andy Serwer swung from warning of a…
Dan Gainor | December 7, 2005

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The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season brought with it a storm of controversy that is still having impact. When two studies alleged a link between increasing strength of storms and global warming, climate change advocates found…