Ask the Expert: Daniel J. Weiss on Media Portrayal of Economic Issues

How does the media portray economic issues?

The media generally looks at how business is doing, but it doesnÕt look at how workers are doing. They quote or source business two and a half times as frequently as they quote or source workers, which means they're talking to business and getting their perspective more than two and a half times as often as they're talking to workers. And that's when you're looking at issues where they really should be talking to workersÑthe minimum wage, employment, trade, credit card debtÑwhere itÕs almost impossible to cover without talking to workers, and yet somehow they're doing that.

Why does biased media coverage matter?

Biased media coverage matters for three reasons. First, we have this idea of democratic debate that all sides should be heard and heard equally. Second, journalistic standards call for both sides of the story to be given fair and equal treatment. And last and most importantly, how media covers issues affects how people act politically; it changes what issues they think are the most important, how they perceive an issue, and even how they vote.

What would fair and balanced coverage of the economy look like?

Good coverage of the economy would look a lot like how reporters already cover credit card issuesÑthey talk to both ordinary consumers, and they talk to business. Now, unfortunately, that's not how media covers a whole range of other economic issues. For example, the minimum wage, they cover business two and a half times as often as they cover workers. You'd think that if they could just cover worker issues just like they cover consumer issues that media coverage of the economy would significantly improve.