Has the Media Played a Role in Creating the Recession? YES!!!

Finance is complicated. It isn't easily learned at all, let alone overnight. And that's what many, many media folks have had to attempt to do since the stock market started its record-breaking downhill plunge.

Consequently, they don't know enough to know when their "experts" that they dredge up for such crises are truly knowledgeable or just popular, which isn't the same thing.

Media folks try to get it right. Especially on something like the financial situation, they're not trying to be alarmist. They are just ignorant. "Ignorant" doesn't mean stupid or evil. It means they don't know.

Of course, it doesn't help that nobody's seen this particular scenario ever in the history of the U.S. Even my own financial advisor, whom I trust and know is good, has admitted that this is not a scene that's been played out before.

So everybody's guessing.

But the runs on the banks a few weeks ago -- spare me!! -- were incited by the media. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. "Things are bad. The banks could be in trouble." So people get alarmed. And the media goes from "could be" to "are." They cover people talking about how bad things are. And people panic more. And the media covers the increasing desperation. And if it's on television, presented by the networks we trust or at least rely on, it's gotta be true. Right? So things must be bad. So we start doing whatever we think will cover our butts.

I didn't go to my bank. Any of them. (I'm sure the one where I have all of $100 or so in it is thrilled that I didn't close out that account.)

Look at how the global markets and economies are in reactionary mode. Just a whiff of potentially bad news, not even anything real, sends the markets plunging and people clutching their wallets and stuffing money under their mattresses. And converting cash to gold. And where do they get this bad news to react to? The media.

It takes time to research a subject, especially ones as complex and twisty-turny as the economy; the stock market in our own country, let alone the ones all over the world; derivatives, subprime mortgages; write-downs, etc. When a crisis erupts, most media folks have to go out with a story NOW, not after they've had the luxury of researching it for however long it takes to understand it and get it right. It's just the way our nownownow world is these days. When something happens, I go online and, sure enough, usually within minutes, there's a story from one of the respected media outlets. Maybe one or more of their reporters/editors specializes in that subject and is ahead of the curve, and maybe not. Either way, the story's gotta get out there before the other guys beat them to it. It's a disservice to all, but it's so competitive that there's no other option at the moment, at least that's what they think. No wonder the cable financial news media stations, publications and web sites are more heavily trafficked than ever. Good for "ordinary people" (I hate that term) for turning to them and not relying solely on generalists for their analyses.

As a longtime journalist, I have been lucky (though it was a definite choice early on in my career) to work in specific industries -- first advertising/marketing and then design/construction, two diametrically opposed fields -- for companies that encouraged getting it right, which sometimes meant going against what the mainstream media, including the most respected ones, were saying. Or waiting until the information was truly confirmed and made accurate. Small victory to get it right when it's after the hugely visible pubs/networks have gotten it wrong for weeks. In some cases I know of personally, they never did get it right, so the misconceptions persist.

So what are we to do? My own personal plan is to stay positive, send prosperity vibes into the universe, and follow my own financial advisor. I sure hope he gets it right.