No, business journalists do not cause recessions

That’s the response from Andrew Leckey, director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University, who is quoted in Tursday’s Arizona Republic in response to concerns from readers that too much negative news is being printed about the economy.

The item states, “Some readers, particularly those who’ve seen investments shrink in the past few months, are blaming the messenger. They maintain that reporters are making the downturn worse because of all the attention paid to it.

“The Buzz is starting to get a complex.

“No need for that, said Andrew Leckey, director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, now based at Arizona State University.

“Even though more depressing words have been written in the blogosphere, on other online sites and in print than were written in the Depression, it isn’t changing the course of economic events.

“‘Journalists don’t make recessions,’ said Leckey, also a syndicated Chicago Tribune columnist.

“In fact, plenty of reporters warned about a housing bubble and coming mortgage problems.”

Read more here.