The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
NY Times shows how American businesses are behind Dubai; CBS airs concern about a new phone monopoly and worries about kids’ roller skates.

March 8, 2006

     The New York Times begins its second week in The Good category with a story other media are overlooking: how American businesses fear politicians will ruin a beneficial trade relationship with the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, CBS lands in both The Bad and The Ugly columns this week for reporting on the AT&T/BellSouth merger and hyping fears about roller skate-shoes for kids.

The Good
     As the Dubai Ports World controversy continues to simmer both on Capitol Hill and in the media, The New York Times took a look at U.S. businesses defending the ports deal with the United Arab Emirates-based company. “Dubai in particular among the seven emirates has become a business partner for many American companies in recent years, as it expands an international airline, creates a major financial center and stock exchange, and adds to its already substantial hotel and tourism business,” wrote Times reporters Heather Timmons and Leslie Wayne. Timmons and Wayne cited international business experts who worry that the billions of dollars the UAE spends with American companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing will be threatened if rash decision-making by the U.S. Congress sours relations with the Emirati government.

The Bad
     The announcement that AT&T plans to buy out BellSouth took the March 5 “CBS Evening News” back to January 1984 when the “Ma Bell” monopoly was busted and Wendy’s commercials featured elderly actress Clara Peller asking “Where’s the beef?” Twenty-two years, four major wireless phone providers, and numerous cable and broadband voice-over-Internet companies later, the Tiffany network feared another Bell monopoly, asking, “where’s the competition?”

The Ugly
     PARENTS BEWARE: If your kids wear roller skates, they may fall and hurt themselves, and you might not be able to sue! That was essentially the alarmist news flash “CBS Early Show” correspondent Mika Brzezinski gave with viewers of the March 3 program.

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly tracks the best and worst media coverage of business and economics. Readers are invited to submit suggestions or news tips to staff writer Ken Shepherd at kshepherd@mediaresearch.org.