Covering the Recession

Have to admit, I was drawn in by the Jon Stewart v. Jim Cramer cable host "war of words" -- and disappointed when Cramer's appearance on The Daily Show ended up being more Congressional hearing (as one New York Times reporter put it) than 8 Mile battle.

But, OK, I can forgive Stewart for trying to be serious. He's probably doing the right thing given the gravity of the economic situation. And if you go back to the very start of the controversy, before Stewart hit his typical comedic stride by warning NBC hosts who came to Cramer's defense that "Viacom in the house!," the Comedy Central host made a claim that's worthy of attention.

In an unusually heavy segment, Stewart more or less argued that CNBC, the station of Jim Cramer, had been such a cheerleader for Wall Street and the economic boom that they'd lost sight of their mission of reporting financial news. When the recession came, he said, they had blood on their hands.

Perhaps. But for the sake of this site, I'm more interested in coverage since the economic collapse began. Specifically, are journalists guilty of playing up the recession to an extreme and stoking so much fear about doom-and-gloom scenarios that we're just making things worse? Is it our job to even think about how our coverage may or may not affect the country's economic health?

The first issue is how people consume news. If anyone watched 10 straight hours of financial news on cable television these days they'd probably want to jump out of a building -- to no fault of the stations programmers. Similarly, if readers just read business section headlines and nothing else for a week they'd also feel like hiding under a blanket. The grim facts speak for themselves. You can't avoid reporting on the stock market, bailouts, the car sale crisis, etc.

It's when journalists get beyond the "straight news" reporting that this question of oversaturation becomes more interesting. Every publication has -- for good reason -- done articles about how the economy affects parents' school choices, grocery shopping and vacation planning. It's possible to go overboard writing about cutbacks in yoga classes and how people are buying Snuggies rather than paying their heating bills. (Ok, made up that last one).

Point is, like lots of other things in journalism, it's about a healthy balance. We have a responsibility to report the economic news and take note when lifestyles are seriously affected by the recession. We also have an obligation to avoid fear mongering.