Categories: OLD Media Moves

Does media coverage make the economy worse?

Jason DeRusha of WCCO in Minneapolis reports Wednesday on the concept that the business media reporting negatively about the economy influences public spending.

DeRusha writes, “In a February Rassmussen Reports, 55 percent said that the media do it on purpose; trying to make the economy look worse than it actually is.

“‘It can feel overwhelming. That doesn’t mean that it’s being covered badly or over-covered,’ said Kathy Hanson, director of the Minnesota Journalism Center at the University of Minnesota.

“‘What they’re hearing is maybe reinforcing what they’ve already been thinking about, but it’s not causing people to make decisions they wouldn’t make otherwise,’ she explained.

“It’s an opinion echoed by a professor at the University’s Carlson School of Management.

“‘Information is neither good nor bad,’ said Kevin Upton. ‘It is an input to decision-making. The media are not making up stories about the stock market, or the job market, or about Ponzi schemes, or car sales, or the housing bubble.'”