What the media is missing…

On Friday (February 6, 2008), the Labor Department released its monthly report of job losses. The New York Times ran an article entitled "Economy Shed 598,000 Jobs in January." Not surprisingly, the Times interviewed and cited chief economists to "shed light" on this economic situation.

“This is a horror show we’re watching,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, an economic research organization in Washington. “By every measure available — loss of employment and hours, rise of unemployment, shrinkage of the employment to population rate — this recession is steeper than any recession of the last 40 years, including the harsh recession of the early 1980s.”

The Times' "Economix" Blog followed suit with "Jobs Report: Economists React," in which they interviewed seven economists.

As demonstrated by both examples, the media relies almost entirely on the perspective of so-called "experts," who are highly educated and accomplished in the academic. Based on this one-sided representation, it may be crucial to ask ourselves who we are not asking about this "horror show." Perhaps, we should ask those who are most greatly affected: the workers without jobs; the families without income; the student, for whom the recession means they will not attend a four-year university next fall. We need to ensure that our media is not relying solely on the opinions of those who observe our lives and then tell others about them, but rather include our voices as individuals actually living through these trying times.

--Working Class Student Union's Communication Team