Discussion for article #239746
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The most under reported poverty of all is the poverty of which Wall Street is the root cause.
Between the wholesale theft of defined-benefit pensions by corporate raiders and Republican governments who simply decided not to make the agreed-upon contributions, the wholesale theft of jobs by junk bond traders who shuttered the factories in process of converting profits into debt, and most recently the wholesale theft of our housing equity by the entirely fraudulent mortgage-backed-securities industry, the vast majority of Americans are victims of the stock market.
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Good points.
What would have to happen to effect such a change in reporting?
What’s the likelihood of such change happening & what’s the alternative?
or … that teenage black high-school dropouts from poor families face a 95 percent employment rate.
I believe you mean unemployment rate. Other wise fairly on the spot article, although I might question how much of it in certain areas is the “lived experience” the author stressed at different points and how much is deliberate corporate efforts intended to control/influence the conversation, the racialization of poverty the article mentioned for example.
Polling shows that a slim majority of Republicans believe the poor basically deserve what they get, that laziness is the reason they are poor. Governors in states with GOP-majority legislatures have passed all manner of legislation that demean the poor or make their lives even more challenging. Despite this, the rich are still inclined to believe the poor have it easy.
Obama is derisively called “the food stamp president” by these people. Reporting poverty statistics a la the stock market, with minimal in-depth coverage of the root causes, will only reinforce negative stereotypes. And in-depth reporting, like attempts to discuss race, will create a lot of divisiveness (at least in the short run).
Even 30 years ago, many papers had labor reporters in addition to business reporters. But all those positions got right-sized and outsourced.
As long as papers and news shows are supported by advertising, and advertisers have decided that anyone not in the top 10% isn’t really that worthwhile to sell to, there’s just no reason to report on the little people. (And that’s even before you get into the rationalizations and the bread-and-circuses thing.)
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I think the biggest damage to reporting is that our media is owned by the same corporations that are responsible for much of the economic damage and disparities today. We have very close to monopolies in the industry, the reporters are just pawns in a profit based industry. The best indication of that is FOX news and Chuck Todd and Morning Joe. We no longer have a fourth estate we now have an empty lot littered with debris. Our news is reported by copying and pasting tweets by twits. How in-depth can you get in less than 200 characters? The internet is a great source, however there are many who believe that if it is on the internet it must be true and they have become the biggest treat to bad reporting there is, why put an effort into investigation and good writing if thousands of people will accept the gum balls that fall out when ever someone takes to the internet. (Will shut up now lest this reply become just another gum ball)
What can be done? Perseverance on the part the voters and readers and demanding more from the news.
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CLK hit the home run. Next to Money in Politics, this is the problem that the Country cannot suffer and still survive! Everything is propaganda from someone!
Your own labor is the one asset that every American owns. You might say American labor has been in a deflationary spiral for decades. It gets reported as unemployment statistics and wage stagnation, but the reasons get less coverage because political empires are built on ignoring them. Labor is in a deflationary spiral due to jobs exported to cheap labor abroad ® and cheap immigrant labor imported (D). Slavery has always had a debilitating effect on every society it touches. Cheap labor is a similar poison.
Loving this well researched, written article with the chart visuals. Best piece of reporting seen in a long time.
One more point- I follow the market and 99% of the articles on the market are just plain STUPID, speculative, ignorant, and WRONG.
Another good story… how this plunge in the markets will hurt or help those who are not invested in the markets. And when you have written that, how about stories on issues that matter to more people,or are you writing articles just to appeal to the 10% who get their news from you? Oh and how about fewer stories about why I should be angry! Report the facts and let me decide if i should be angry or not. What irritates me right now is there are 10-14 stories on Donal Trump on your front page. I know you can rationalize why each is a story worth telling, but really! How is Donald Trump that important this far away from voting? Or is it that you think we will go to some other news source to get our Trump fix. A reminder, Fox News gets good ratings. If they get a 10 rating… what people forget is that 90% of the people ARE NOT WATCHING! You get to decide what you cover, please wake up and cover the issues not the horsrace… That is what journalism is supposed to be about. (Sorry for the Rant)
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How many farmers, contractors or landscapers do you know who identify as Democrats?