From Newsbusters:
AP Math:
0.6% Rise is 'Feeble'
0.6% Decline is 'Plunge'
By Noel Sheppard March 27, 2008 - 10:03 ET
Want an even clearer picture of how media are intentionally reporting economic data in a way that makes the public feel things are much worse than they are?
Consider the different adjectives the good folks at the Associated Press use to describe a 0.6 percent change depending on whether or not it's an increase or a decrease.
As reported by NewsBusters two weeks ago, when the Commerce Department announced that retail sales for February had declined by 0.6 percent, the Associated Press declared that a "plunge."
Yet, when the Gross Domestic Product grows by a similar amount, the AP reports it as "feeble" (emphasis added, h/t NB reader Matthew Noll):
Want an even clearer picture of how media are intentionally reporting economic data in a way that makes the public feel things are much worse than they are?
Consider the different adjectives the good folks at the Associated Press use to describe a 0.6 percent change depending on whether or not it's an increase or a decrease.
As reported by NewsBusters two weeks ago, when the Commerce Department announced that retail sales for February had declined by 0.6 percent, the Associated Press declared that a "plunge."
Yet, when the Gross Domestic Product grows by a similar amount, the AP reports it as "feeble" (emphasis added, h/t NB reader Matthew Noll):
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product increased at a feeble 0.6 percent annual rate in the October-to-December quarter. The reading -- unchanged from a previous estimate a month ago -- provided stark evidence of just how much the economy has weakened. In the prior quarter, the economy clocked in at a sizzling 4.9 percent growth rate.
How do these people look at themselves in the mirror each morning?
Baaaaa - Baaaaaa -- that sure sounds Baaaaaaad to us sheeple. The Republicans have GOT to go. Thank god we can count on the totally objective media to present an unbiased view of "the facts" so we can decide for ourselves.
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1 comment:
Well, I agree with your suggestion that the completely and totally objective media just report the news and stop attempting to do our thinking for us. However, once again you fail to find the truth in the midst of pursuing your idealogical point.
A 0.6% decline can indeed be considered a "plunge" if the prior periodic measurement was a 10% increase. And a 0.6% increase can indeed be considered "feeble" when compared to a prior periodic measurement of 4.9%.
You see what they might be saying now? They're not talking only about hard numbers. They're talking about something slightly more abstract called "comparisons".
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