A MEDIA FAILURE COMPOUNDS THE FINANCIAL FAILURE:
The Press Is Still Missing The Story Of Fraud and Economic Decline Ahead
By Danny Schechter
Author of the Crime Of Our Time
We know that Wall Street has not learned much from the crash it helped instigate. We know that our government, whatever its stated desire to clean up the markets and reform the financial behemoths, lacks the willingness and perhaps the clout to rein in the real power centers. We are not sure if they have been "captured by them, or just lack the guts to take on institutions and individuals that helped fund their rise to power.
But do we know that, even now, much of our media, despite the sheer volume of coverage may be missing the real story? Do we know that if we want to find missing facts and the real context we have to turn away from the failed media system that never really investigated the failed financial system
The Project on Excellence on Journalism that examines media trends released a study charging "that the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression has been covered in the media largely from the top down, told primarily from the perspective of the Obama administration and big business, with coverage reflecting the concerns of institutions more than the lives of everyday Americans.
Why is this? I asked several journalists in making a film and writing a book about the financial crisis as a crime story. A number agreed that the media itself is "embedded in the culture and narratives of Wall Street, like reporters embedded in Iraq. They lack the ability to be critical of the sources they rely on. They bring little perspective and context to their work.
Max Wolff who works in the financial industry, and also teaches about it, shared his view as we stood outside the New York Stock Exchange:
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