The difficulty of covering a down market

David Carr of the New York Times writes for Monday’s paper about the difficulty in covering a down market for CNBC and others in business journalism.

Carr writes, “Doomsayers generally don’t make good television: they are always right on the way in and rarely correct on the way out. But under any circumstances, the economy is going to be bouncing along the bottom for some time, leaving the press stuck covering a story that refuses to get better. On any other day, the bottom is synonymous with ‘buying opportunity’ on cable financial news, but not when you’re trapped on the Titanic.

“The news media in this country are often accused of being contrary and pessimistic, but rarely is that the case. Amid carnage, economic or otherwise, reporters are trained to look for ‘glimmers of hope,’ ‘signs that the worst is behind us’ and ‘miraculous tales of survival,’ especially those that involve a baby — or in this case, a 401(k) — somehow making it through a hurricane, tornado or mudslide.

“And for people who cover personal finance, the narrative of big stock swings and instant profits has been replaced by cautious advice about hunkering down with T-bills and cash. Being a financial news anchor must seem like owning an ice cream parlor where spinach is the only flavor on the menu.”

Read more here.