On Framing: How Legacy Media Presented The March Jobs Report
Let's see how our media is doing this time around, shall we?
Here are the headlines of various major news outlets regarding Friday's subpar jobs report:
US Hiring Holds Steady - New York Times
Economy adds 151,000 jobs in February, a solid gain despite federal worker layoffs - Washington Post
US economy added 151,000 jobs in February, below expectations - Fox Business
Job Growth Picks up But Unemployment Rises to 4.1% - Newsmax
Framing is everything when it comes to news. How you present a headline is a key part of that framing. Friday's jobs report included two simple numbers: 151,000 jobs and a 4.1% unemployment rate. How outlets then present that number to their readers becomes an editorial choice. The expectation for February was 160,000 jobs. Of the outlets listed, only Newsmax acknowledged that fact to its readers. When it came to the increased unemployment rate, only Fox Business chose to share this increase with its readers. The Washington Post went a different route. Despite obvious decisions by the administration to hinder the creation of new jobs, it defined the addition of 151,000 jobs as a "solid gain." And the New York Times was perhaps the most misleading of all with its use of the phrase "holds steady." While February's numbers were similar to January's, they were significantly down from November and December where the two-month average job gain was 242,000. By using "holds steady" the Times was implying that we were experiencing consistent job growth rather than a downward trend that was clearly a result of this administration's actions over the past month.
We've now entered a world where both the New York Times and Washington Post carry water for the administration and Fox and Newsmax acknowledge that same administration is not infallible. While we've come to expect biases from right-wing media outlets, we hoped that historically left-leaning publications would counter their narratives with a more critical look at this administration. But after what we saw this fall with both the Washington Post and LA Times refusing to endorse Kamala Harris, it became clear that legacy media would err on the side of appeasement when it came to the incoming administration and its authoritarian tactics. Democracy did not die in darkness as The Post once feared; it died in broad daylight with wealthy pro-business owners like its own Jeff Bezos (net worth: $223 billion) and the LA Times' Patrick Soon-Shiong (net worth: $5.9 billion) choosing neutrality rather than democracy. Based on Friday's headlines, neutrality might be too kind of a word. If coverage like this is to be a harbinger of things to come then expect more and more pro-Trump headlines in the weeks and months to follow at the expense of the truth of the incompetence and ineptitude of Donald Trump and his cabal of criminals masquerading as government officials.
Our fifth column Fourth Estate has learned nothing six weeks into this abomination of an administration. Sadly, this was to be expected. From sanewashing Trump throughout his campaign to now giving him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to employment numbers, our legacy media can no longer be trusted to present news in any other way than one that appeases their own corporate overlords. In trying to inject a positive spin on Friday's job numbers, our legacy media failed to emphasize the obvious Musk/Trump decisions that hindered economic growth. That was the true story of the report and that was what should have been highlighted. A more appropriate headline would have been "Trump/Musk federal job purge leads to slowed hiring" or "Unemployment rises as February jobs report misses the mark." There was a clear cause and effect in action that legacy media knew about and chose to ignore thereby abdicating their duty to inform their readers. Friday's jobs report was bad yet the way it was framed presented it as nothing out of the ordinary.
We've known for a while legacy media would be unreliable these next 46 months and we saw that this past Friday. So it's up to us to be the stewards of information. And when it comes to jobs, we have facts on our side. Joe Biden created 16.6 million new jobs. That's an average of nearly 346,000 jobs per month for four years. Trump's first full month's jobs report did not meet expectations even though he unsurprisingly bragged about the report when asked about it. It's critical that we reference previous job reports during the Biden Administration. Last year, the Biden Administration added 303,000 jobs in March with a 3.8% unemployment rate. The decisions that Elon Musk and Donald Trump make over the next month will impact what their March report looks like. No matter how legacy media presents those numbers, we know what a jobs report looks like from an administration that builds from the bottom up and enacts policies that benefit the middle class. Legacy media won't say it so we have to: Democrats and Republicans have a clear difference as to how to grow the economy. We have four years of evidence from Joe Biden and we will have four years of evidence of Donald Trump, despite legacy media's incessant need to downplay his failures. The economy will again be the story in 2028 and we have to make sure everybody knows what it looks like when Democrats are in charge versus Republicans.
A story based on facts rather than legacy media's opinions.
Framing is everything when it comes to news. How you present a headline is a key part of that framing. Friday's jobs report included two simple numbers: 151,000 jobs and a 4.1% unemployment rate. How outlets then present that number to their readers becomes an editorial choice. The expectation for February was 160,000 jobs. Of the outlets listed, only Newsmax acknowledged that fact to its readers. When it came to the increased unemployment rate, only Fox Business chose to share this increase with its readers. The Washington Post went a different route. Despite obvious decisions by the administration to hinder the creation of new jobs, it defined the addition of 151,000 jobs as a "solid gain." And the New York Times was perhaps the most misleading of all with its use of the phrase "holds steady." While February's numbers were similar to January's, they were significantly down from November and December where the two-month average job gain was 242,000. By using "holds steady" the Times was implying that we were experiencing consistent job growth rather than a downward trend that was clearly a result of this administration's actions over the past month.
We've now entered a world where both the New York Times and Washington Post carry water for the administration and Fox and Newsmax acknowledge that same administration is not infallible. While we've come to expect biases from right-wing media outlets, we hoped that historically left-leaning publications would counter their narratives with a more critical look at this administration. But after what we saw this fall with both the Washington Post and LA Times refusing to endorse Kamala Harris, it became clear that legacy media would err on the side of appeasement when it came to the incoming administration and its authoritarian tactics. Democracy did not die in darkness as The Post once feared; it died in broad daylight with wealthy pro-business owners like its own Jeff Bezos (net worth: $223 billion) and the LA Times' Patrick Soon-Shiong (net worth: $5.9 billion) choosing neutrality rather than democracy. Based on Friday's headlines, neutrality might be too kind of a word. If coverage like this is to be a harbinger of things to come then expect more and more pro-Trump headlines in the weeks and months to follow at the expense of the truth of the incompetence and ineptitude of Donald Trump and his cabal of criminals masquerading as government officials.
Our fifth column Fourth Estate has learned nothing six weeks into this abomination of an administration. Sadly, this was to be expected. From sanewashing Trump throughout his campaign to now giving him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to employment numbers, our legacy media can no longer be trusted to present news in any other way than one that appeases their own corporate overlords. In trying to inject a positive spin on Friday's job numbers, our legacy media failed to emphasize the obvious Musk/Trump decisions that hindered economic growth. That was the true story of the report and that was what should have been highlighted. A more appropriate headline would have been "Trump/Musk federal job purge leads to slowed hiring" or "Unemployment rises as February jobs report misses the mark." There was a clear cause and effect in action that legacy media knew about and chose to ignore thereby abdicating their duty to inform their readers. Friday's jobs report was bad yet the way it was framed presented it as nothing out of the ordinary.
We've known for a while legacy media would be unreliable these next 46 months and we saw that this past Friday. So it's up to us to be the stewards of information. And when it comes to jobs, we have facts on our side. Joe Biden created 16.6 million new jobs. That's an average of nearly 346,000 jobs per month for four years. Trump's first full month's jobs report did not meet expectations even though he unsurprisingly bragged about the report when asked about it. It's critical that we reference previous job reports during the Biden Administration. Last year, the Biden Administration added 303,000 jobs in March with a 3.8% unemployment rate. The decisions that Elon Musk and Donald Trump make over the next month will impact what their March report looks like. No matter how legacy media presents those numbers, we know what a jobs report looks like from an administration that builds from the bottom up and enacts policies that benefit the middle class. Legacy media won't say it so we have to: Democrats and Republicans have a clear difference as to how to grow the economy. We have four years of evidence from Joe Biden and we will have four years of evidence of Donald Trump, despite legacy media's incessant need to downplay his failures. The economy will again be the story in 2028 and we have to make sure everybody knows what it looks like when Democrats are in charge versus Republicans.
A story based on facts rather than legacy media's opinions.