Why The Media Doesn’t Get It

Once again, I am disappointed with the performance of my beloved profession, journalism. We just don’t get it when it comes to informing the public what is really going on in the current financial crisis. And the reason is quite simple. Most journalists don’t have a clue when it comes to financial and economic reporting. I put part of the blame on the journalism schools who don’t teach up-and-coming journalists how to read, evaluate and analyze financial material. This is a dramatic departure from the time when I was in journalism school in the late 70’s where the country was also experiencing financial trauma. I remember deliberately choosing to continue my journalism education into graduate school so I could take advantage of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism’s sequence on financial reporting. It was led by the legendary financial editor, Elizabeth Yamashita who was one of the first women to serve as a financial editor and some of the biggest financial journals in the country. She knew her stuff and she imparted this knowledge to all of us who dared to go through the rigors of “Mama Yama’s” training. She made us understand the stock market, spreadsheets, annual reports and all the other documents that current journalists would consider to be boring. More importantly, she taught us how to look beyond the numbers and decipher the implications of those numbers. Then she taught us how to make it into a good story… so that our readers, listeners and viewers would “get it.” Now journalists and news organizations depend on financial analysts and spin doctors to tell our audience what it all means. And we don’t even take the time to question whether these so-called analysts have hidden motivations….such as trying to pick up more clients and customers. And some of these guests are PAID by the very financial institutions that are the subject of their comments. That is just poor journalism. Now we have whipped the American public into a frenzy of fear. We are a contributing factor to the economic paralysis that is sweeping across the country. So I issue this challenge to my fellow journalists. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! Study, read, analyze and question and then DO YOUR JOB and let the American people know what’s really going on.