We're driving to Vegas, the ultimate cheap vacation. Cheap is the key word: $50 hotel, $4.99 meals and lots of free attractions. There's something discounted, inexpensive or bargain basement priced for everyone in our family of five—and we're telling the older kids to forget the slots.
Personally, I'd rather be going to Vermont, Hawaii or even Northern California but with salary freezes, job furloughs and the ever-tightening credit market, that's not possible. I could yell out the window "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more," and everyone on the block would shout "Back at ya!"Who's to blame? My reading of the legacy news media looks like it's all President Obama's fault. The stimulus package was a flop, and the cash strain on government spending is hurting everyone from auto workers to vets.
Of course the economy is news and the media needs to report it. But how do reporters set up, structure and source their stories? What do they put in? What do they leave out? Who is quoted? How is the information arranged? Conventional wisdom tells journalists to focus on conflict, quote the most colorful source and lead with the most gripping (and usually sensational) tidbit.
This works well for sports coverage, but it takes a toll on civic (and civil) discourse. The Republicans' mission to take down Obama colors their comments. Echoing their opinions without context makes a bad situation worse. In other words, it's not Obama's fault that my family is going to Vegas instead of Venice. And it won't help our understanding of the country's challenges to pretend it so.
Diane Winston
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