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The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
USA Today reports job market
not so bad for grads; CBS finds unique culprit in home hardship
story – race; NYT scoffs at 400+ 'skeptical' scientists, elevates 44
green Southern Baptists.
March 12, 2008
The Good
After the
Labor Department reported March 7 that 63,000 jobs were lost in
February, there was not a lot of reason to be optimistic about the
economy in general. The stock market fell and the doom and gloomers
got louder.
However,
the March 10 USA Today gave new college graduates a reason not
to be so down. An article by Stephanie Armour reported soon-to-be
graduates will enter into the job market upon graduation this spring
to find a lot of opportunities.
“Employers are planning to hire 16% more 2008 college graduates than
they did a year ago, according to a projection from a survey by the
National Association of Colleges and Employers, a Bethlehem,
Pa.-based group that tracks the market for new graduates,” Armour
wrote.
The
story was a sharp contrast to the latest jobs report. But the
competition for college graduates has even forced some employers to
offer bonuses.
“Nearly 54%
of employers said they will use signing bonuses to sweeten the deal
for potential hires, according to the NACE, up from 47% in 2007. In
particularly high demand: majors in marketing, engineering and
computer science.”
The Bad
Falling behind
on your mortgage? These days it's anyone's fault but your own,
according to the mainstream media.
The
March 9 "CBS Evening News" found another way to fault home lenders
instead of one borrower who took on an ill-planned mortgage that
was more than he could pay. The reporter played the race card.
"[Michael]
Wiggins, a city bus driver, was one of millions of Americans caught
in the subprime mortgage crisis," CBS correspondent Randall Pinkston
said. "His mortgage lenders' network loan gave him an 11-percent
interest rate with a payment of $3,900 a month. But that jumped to
$4,200 a month because of delinquency fees and penalties. Knowing he
was sinking fast, Wiggins looked for refinancing at commercial
banks."
This time,
instead of blaming the borrower who got in over his head, Pinkston
suggested the color of Wiggins's skin was to blame for the type of
mortgage the bank sold him.
"Some
community bankers believe there is a racial component to the
subprime mortgage crisis, a belief supported by the Federal Reserve
report which shows that 55 percent of black borrowers versus 17
percent of whites were steered to subprime loans, even when they
qualified for lower interest rates," Pinkston said
The Ugly
Remember when
more than 400 scientists were revealed as "skeptical" about global
warming hype? The New York Times's Andrew Revkin
blogged about it, saying the "perennial tug of war" was actually
"a distraction from fundamentals that are clearly established."
Of course,
44 Southern Baptists who buy into the green agenda received a
respectful print story in the March 10 Times, widely quoting church
leaders. One man said: "when we destroy God's creation, it's similar
to ripping pages from the Bible."
Actually,
the man behind that statement, Jonathan Merritt, isn't really a
church leader, according to the article – he's a 25-year-old
seminary student. But he's "the spokesman for the Southern Baptist
Environment and Climate Initiative." He used to be "an enemy of the
environment," until he had the "epiphany" quoted above.
400+ scientists or 44 Southern Baptists? Take your pick which
is more newsworthy on the topic.
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 Jeff Poor at
jpoor@mediaresearch.org.
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