Covering the Shopapocalypse

Danny Schechter writes on the Media Channel web site that coverage of the opening of the Christmas shopping season seems to neglect the impact that the economy is having on consumers.

Schechter wrote, “Were most media outlets connecting any dots between the annual shopathon and the ‘severe recession’ that many economists are forecasting? Were there any warnings to the public to save their rapidly inflating money for the expected hard times? Was there any explanation of how prices have sharply risen and, thus, the discounts—often ‘teaser’ rates just like the ones offered sub-prime loan victims—are really not all they are cracked up to be?

“No way.

“What about the larger trends? Yes there has been reporting on how bad things are—but this reality was largely NOT depicted in the ‘shop now, be happy’ coverage. The Globe did run a story in the B Section where the business news is buried.”

Read more here.