The Economic Crisis Coverage: NPR

Jimmy, Cindy, Glenn, Cluckey, and Megan

NPR’s Mission

• “The mission of NPR is to work in partnership with member stations to create a more informed public - one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas and cultures.”

Effective Standards of Journalism

• Speaking in a language that is understandable to the average citizen

• Credibility• Current information, up-to-date, relevant• Explain relevance of situation• Objective (refrain from political bias)

Ineffective Journalism

• Lacks context• Too much economic ‘lingo’• Overly speculative• Subjective (overly political)

What Was Going on in News Pre- Crisis ?

• 2008 Presidential Election (Primaries)• Hurricane Katrina/Recovery• Virginia Tech Shooting• Iraq• Gas Prices (#1 story)

Ineffective Coverage Before

• All Things Considered:• July 23rd 2007GONZALES: What's less apparent is the green water, the kind you find in

backyard swimming pools that have been abandoned by homeowners. Deborah Bass shows us one of them.

Ms. DEBORAH BASS (Public Affairs Manager, Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District): Well, we see a pool that is bright green; there seemingly are probably tens of thousands of mosquitoes in this pool. They're just wiggling all around.

GONZALES: Bass is with the County Mosquito Control Program. She worries that the abandoned pools will lead to the spread of West Nile virus.

Ms. BASS: Well, we're seeing a lot of pools abandoned like this because of the foreclosure rate. A lot of people are worried about the finances, of course, and are probably not worried about what's going on in their backyard.

Effective Journalism Before• Morning Edition:• February 28th 2007

Kevin Caron of Ryan Beck says Greenspan may be right.Mr. CARON: We think that the evidence is now pointing increasingly towards a softer,

or more of a rough patch for the economy, perhaps later this year moving into next year, where the odds of recession are indeed climbing.

ZARROLI: But a lot of other market watchers said the reaction to Greenspan's remarks was probably overblown. Yesterday might have been one of the biggest one-day point losses for the market, but in percentage terms, it was less than historic.Tim Ghriskey, of Solaris Asset Management, says the market may have fallen about as much as it's going to. As dramatic as the drop appeared to be, he says there is reason for optimism. For one thing, Ghriskey says, there is still a great deal of liquidity in the market.

….

• All Things Considered• September 7th 2007- ‘Is a recession in the

making?’•

Asking and Answering Questions

• What caused the economic crisis in 2008• Surviving financial crisis - Interview with Chris Gardner

Clear Explanations

• Analysis of Wall Street Firms

• Explaining Government’s Rescue Plan

Use questions to make listeners and readers understand the crisis better

Too Personal, and Too Much Complaint

• Where’s my personal bailout?

From Timothy Martin (one of the listener)Now, with college looming large for my teenage kids, I would like to have a higher education bailout. I realized that I should have been saving more money for their college funds, but it's not that easy to squirrel away money for college or have an eight-figure retirement plan when you don't work on Wall Street. One last thing, I could also use a Visa bailout. My bill has crept up to more than $10,000 in the last five years. I suppose living large had something to do with it - you know doctor bills, car maintenance, home repairs, trips to the orthodontist.

Is there no end to the wild and crazy times one can have? I've realized that most good citizen's payoff their credit card bills, but I'd rather shirk my responsibilities just like AIG and Lehman Brothers. Look, I may not be the CEO of Goldman Sachs but since a Federal Reserve board is rewarding reckless investment bankers and setting up relief operations for greedy lenders, I was hoping my family just might qualify. So Secretary Paulson, can I have my bailout now?

Coverage During

• Title: How to Recession-Proof Your Job and Finances– Link: Click to View NPR Article

• Addresses small population of economically distressed

• Offers poor advice• Too little, too late

ISTRO

• Clip 1 ISTRO-David Wessel Economics

Editor for WSJ -Is the Crisis Over?

ISTRO• Clip 2 ISTRO

-Are we finally back to normal?

Effective After•Planet Money- February 25th 2011•“What A Coin Toss Has To Do With The Housing Market”

Did coverage create a ‘more informed

public’?