Top Story: It’s the Economy…And You’re Not Stupid
The Pre-election headlines read like casebook examples of how to treat news consumers like idiots.
Why many Americans still feel bad about the economy despite strong data.
Trump wants you to believe the economy is doing terribly.
US economy is doing better than Americans think.
The message was clear: If you thought the economy was hurting…If you were hurting...You were an imbecile.
Then millions of voters headed to the polls last month, and many responded with a big $%$$$ you... to the Dems, who were also trying to convince them: “There's nothing to see here.” And to…yes…the press, which failed to fully grasp where the country was.
Now, it’s the press’s turn to rethink how WE evaluate the local economies we cover…and the people who are impacted every day by them.
We should no longer think that stories about people's livelihoods are for business reporters, only.
Instead, we should all be prioritizing stories about the way the American economy is—and is not—working for the people we cover in real ways.
We should all be thinking early and often about how wages, inflation, housing, the cost of daycare and healthcare, and the changes in an increasingly tech-ified economy are impacting the communities we cover.
We should report on local financial problems, solutions, culprits and victims.
And we should do this A LOT.
Here's why:
It's the lede. Americans treat the economy like the main story, you should too.
It's everyone's beat. There is no beat that doesn’t touch on people. So, there's no beat that isn't about the economy.
It's personal. Economic stories allow people to see themselves in your work. When you do that, you signal that the press is actually listening.
It’s only complicated if you make it complicated. The best economic stories are pretty straight forward: who’s up, who’s down, and why.
It's a great way to make your work relevant to people who are shutting out the news.
It’s your job.
Must-Read Economic Stories
An Invisible Child Lives Here.
Great Business Reads
“Kochland”
“Business Grammar, Style and Usage”
“Adrift”
Great Economy Podcasts
Comic Relief
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See You Next Week!
Our Staff
Executive Editor Kyle Spencer
Managing Editor Christen Gall
Our Board of Advisors
Alex Aronson, executive director of Court Accountability
David Armiak, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy
Connor Gibson, founder of Grassrootbeer Investigations
Maurice Cunningham, retired associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and author of Dark Money and The Politics of School Privatization.
Isaac Kamola, associate professor of political science at Trinity College, founder of Faculty First Responders and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe distinguished professor of history and public policy at Duke University and author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Ralph Wilson, founder of the Corporate Genome Project and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
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