Biz journalism pundits decry “Chicken Little” approach to recent coverage

Joe Strupp of Media Matters for America writes that some business journalism experts believe that the media presented an overly pessimistic scenario in the wake of the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. government.

Strupp writes, “‘It is a little bit of Chicken Little – ‘the sky is falling’,’ declared Marty Steffens, chair in business and financial journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and former editor of the San Francisco Examiner. ‘You are still very safe in holding American securities … there have been a lot of good stories about how it is not terrible. What happens is journalism gets responsible in a lot of things, but it doesn’t dominate the chatter in the headlines.’

“Several other veteran business journalists agreed, though none singled out specific news outlets.

“Paul Steiger, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and currently editor-in-chief of ProPublica.org, said the ratings of S&P and others should not be taken as seriously as the have been:

“‘To get too exercised about what (ratings agencies) do or don’t do is a waste of time,’ he said. ‘Ratings agencies lead and they also follow.

‘My view is to never get very excited about actions by ratings agencies because they are just one voice.’ He later added, ‘…and the record isn’t great.’

“Steiger was referring to some ratings agencies’ past history of mistakes, such as their failures in the run-up to the financial crisis and economic scandals that include Enron and WorldCom.”

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