The Absence of the Working Class

June 23, 2008

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“Journalistic standards call for objective, fair, and balanced stories,” said David Madland, Director of the American Project at Center for American Progress. “Media coverage influences people; it matters.” But according to his report, “Journalists Give Workers the Business,” when it comes to economic matters, the media provides the perspective of business far more often than that of workers or unions combined.

At a Center for American Progress event last Friday, Madland, along with journalists Philip Dine and William Greider, and union leader Steve Trossman, debated issues of media coverage of the working class point of view. The conversation centered on Madland’s recent report, a study of the economic coverage by major press and television news sources.

The report stated that on average, businesses were sourced at a rate two-and-a-half times greater than that of workers and unions, and when it came to issues of employment, businesses were cited over six times as frequently as workers. Only coverage of credit card debt was more balanced; ordinary citizens were mentioned proportionately to businesses.

Although the panelists all agreed that this inequality was a big problem, they disagreed when it came to causes and solutions. Madland was worried about the consequences of only talking to easy-to-reach and easy-to-quote elite sources.

“It’s not just an academic concern,” he said. “It has real-world implications.” Madland stressed the importance of an informed citizenry, deprived of information due to media negligence. He suggested an institutionalization of interviewing both sides of any economic story. In addition, members of the public must hold journalists responsible, Madland said.

“The media do an abysmal job covering labor,” said Philip Dine, journalist and author of State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve our Economy, and Regain Political Influence. “It’s sporadic; it’s done almost grudgingly.” Dine attributed sporadic and sensationalistic labor coverage to marginalization of the topic. He also criticized the harsher language used in labor articles, using the terms “labor demands” and “union bosses” as examples.

However, Dine extended his condemnation to the behavior of unions. He listed two common union responses to the media; leaders who simply ignore the issue and teamsters who won’t talk to a member of the press until he has been validated as a “good guy.” This disconnect leads to a patronizing attitude toward labor as well as a grievous lack of reporting on stories such as the rate of 16 workplace-related deaths per day.

“Labor needs to reach out to reporters when nothing’s happening,” Dine said.

Steve Trossman, Communications Director for the Service Employees International Union, agreed that unions could do a better job communicating, but also highlighted the failures of the media. He said the problems were a result of class differences, as can be seen both in sources and in news sources’ key demographics. He also mentioned a racial divide, complimenting the coverage by African-American and Hispanic papers.

National affairs correspondent for The Nation, William Greider, attacked media coverage most directly. “This is rotten reporting, just rotten reporting,” he said. “I’m not talking conspiracy, I’m talking about social decay.” He criticized the reluctance of the media to break from the pack and pursue a new story. Not only did he agree with Trossman’s portrayal of class conflict, Greider denounced the sourcing of economists who have a purely academic view of the issues.

The question-and-answer session raised issues of new media and the presence of economic indicators. The panelists differed in their opinions concerning the answer to this problem, but they agreed media coverage of labor needed to improve, if only for the sake of labor itself.

“It is in no one’s interest for declining labor,” Dine said, emphasizing the need for labor to stay strong for the benefit of everyone.

For more on this event, please visit the events page.