The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
ABC’s Sam Champion exposes recycled footage in ‘An Inconvenient Truth;’ ‘Nightline’ echoes DNC talking point without checking math on gas prices; Time Magazine doctors Iwo Jima Photo for global warming cover story.
 

April 30, 2008

The Good
     CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer has shown that he gets it.

      Cramer told NBC “Today” show host Matt Lauer April 25 that ethanol is one of two main causes for recent food inflation, which has led to higher grocery prices for Americans and food riots in some poorer countries.

     “One, longer-term, greater affluence of China and India. Those people now want protein-filled diets, beef and chicken,” Cramer said. “Short-term though, ethanol in this country. That mandate has bid up everything. You drop the mandate, prices plummet.”

     The mandate Cramer referred to started in 2005, when the federal government established a requirement for ethanol to be mixed into the nation’s gasoline supply. Congress updated the mandate, which President George W. Bush signed, in December 2007, requiring 36 billion gallons of ethanol to be mixed with gasoline by 2022.

The Bad
     After pushing for the government to save the day as the economy comes to grips with bad business decisions made in the credit markets, “CBS Evening News” doesn’t think the government’s tax rebate will be enough.

      “The government started sending out those tax rebate checks today, but they may not do all that much to stimulate the economy because a lot of the money will be used to pay for basic necessities like energy,” “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric said on the April 28 broadcast. “The price of oil approached $120 a barrel today before closing at a record $118.75.”

      Despite some receiving checks between $300 and $1,200 and an extra $300 per child, Couric deemed the rebate checks as “shrinking” because of high gas prices.

      “Another all-time high for gasoline as well, a nationwide average of $3.60 a gallon – [CBS correspondent] Anthony Mason now on the incredible shrinking rebate,” Couric said.

      Mason was concerned that people will do something responsible with it – like save it or use it to pay down debt.

      “The government is hoping we all go out and spend that money,” Mason said. “[I]n fact, more than half of those expecting a check, according to a new CBS News survey, intend to pay down their bills. More than a quarter say they’ll save the money. Only 18 percent plan to spend it.”

The Ugly
     Can you believe this was the guy behind the beginnings of CNN? Media mogul-turned-prophet of doom Ted Turner now warns the current food riots occurring throughout the world are a just a sign of things to come.

     “There are a lot of different problems being caused by an ever-increasing number of people in a finite-sized world,” Turner said on CNBC’s April 25 “Closing Bell.” “The resources of the planet just can’t keep up with the demand and I’m afraid this going to be more commonplace. I’m afraid we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg. It’s very complicated I do want to say.”

      Turner railed against the growth of humanity – blaming it for “global climate change and the over-fishing of the oceans.”

      “We’ve had warnings for a number of years,” Turner said. “Grain stocks have been dropping every year for the last 10 years or pretty close to that – the reserves. And, the environment in so many different areas is being – the pressure being put on it by the ever-increasing number of people and the number of people using more stuff and more energy – that’s what ‘s leading to global climate change and the over-fishing of the oceans.”

      Ironically, at a forum held by the World Trade Organization in 2006, Turner defended agricultural subsidies and promoted the production of biofuels – both of which are blamed for the current food shortages.

     “If agriculture were always going to be the same, then the question of subsidies would be a problem without a solution,” Turner said at the World Trade Organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, according to the Sept. 25, 2006, International Herald Tribune. "But agriculture is changing.”

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.