The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Decent economics, ignoring a climate change treaty and a bizarre view of the cause for African starvation.

( The Good, the Bad and the Ugly will be a regular feature of the Balance Sheet – tracking the best and worst media coverage of business and economics. Readers are invited to submit suggestions or news tips to Director Dan Gainor )

The Good
     The media have misstated the relative price of oil and gasoline all year. Reports throughout spring and summer have repeatedly claimed oil and gasoline prices climbed to record highs. Every one of those reports was wrong.

     At least one reporter has learned the truth. On Aug. 12, 2005, Andrea Mitchell told the “NBC Nightly News” audience, “As bad as prices are now, the surprising fact is that gasoline is cheaper than in 1981, at least adjusted for inflation.” Mitchell deserves credit for not buying in to the price hype.


The Bad
     In the two weeks following the new U.S. climate change pact, the major networks didn’t mention it at all. President George W. Bush announced the U.S. had teamed with China, India and three other nations to use a free market approach to climate change by promoting innovation.

     During those same two weeks, CBS and ABC both found time for a new study linking strong hurricanes to global warming. On two occasions, reporters passed along the study’s findings without any critique of the results.

     It isn’t big news that the networks have skewed the coverage of the global warming debate, leaving out the devastating economic consequences of signing the Kyoto treaty. But ignoring a new agreement that includes India and China – the world’s two most populous nations – is just bad journalism.

     For more information on how the media have covered climate change in the past, check out “Destroying America To Save The World: TV’s Global Warming Coverage Hides Cost Of Kyoto Treaty.”


The Ugly
     Washington Post foreign reporter Craig Timberg easily earned the spot for the worst news story for the week of August 8, 2005. The 1,100-word article, “The Rise of a Market Mentality Means Many Go Hungry in Niger,” was more of a rant against the free market system than objective journalism.

     Timberg’s worldview essentially blamed greedy capitalists for the starvation of millions. The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Associated Press and U.S. government all claimed otherwise. Even Timberg’s previous writing disagreed on this point.

     According to Timberg’s Aug. 8 piece on Niger, “This is a nation where chronic poverty, cyclical drought and flooding, and international indifference have created conditions that are among the world’s world’s most lethal to children.” He added that “Floodwaters have contaminated drinking sources and created pools for breeding mosquitoes.”