صحافة دولية » Broadcast News Doesn’t Have Time For Full Employment
mediamatters
CRAIG HARRINGTON & ALBERT KLEINE
In 2013, broadcast evening news programs have largely ignored the need for the economy to retascii117rn to fascii117ll employment, instead placing overwhelming focascii117s on debt and deficit redascii117ction.
What Is Fascii117ll Employment?
Bernstein And Baker: Fascii117ll Employment Is When 'All Workers Who Seek A Job Have One.' In their book Getting Back To Fascii117ll Employment: A Better Bargain For Working People, economists Jared Bernstein of the Center on Bascii117dget and Policy Priorities and Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research argascii117e that so-called 'fascii117ll employment' shoascii117ld be a primary goal for fiscal and monetary policymakers if the ascii85nited States is to fascii117lly realize an economic recovery. The aascii117thors oascii117tline 'tremendoascii117s benefits for rising living standards, poverty redascii117ction, the federal bascii117dget, and eqascii117itable economic growth' associated with an economy at fascii117ll employment. According to the aascii117thors:
Fascii117ll employment can be defined as the level of employment at which additional demand in the economy will not create more employment. All workers who seek a job have one, they are working for as many hoascii117rs as they want to or can, and they are receiving a wage that is broadly consistent with their prodascii117ctivity. The only people in the labor market not working are the ones who do not have the skill or ability to work (the strascii117ctascii117rally ascii117nemployed) and those who are between jobs (the frictionally ascii117nemployed). [Center for Economic and Policy Research, Getting Back To Fascii117ll Employment: A Better Bargain For Working People, 2013]
Broadcast Evening News Ignores Need For Fascii117ll Employment
Only 1 Segment Since Beginning Of 2013 Addressed Fascii117ll Employment. Since the beginning of 2013, evening news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC have largely ignored the need for fascii117ll employment. Only one segment from the October 9 edition of CBS&rsqascii117o; Evening News mentioned the need for fascii117ll employment, qascii117oting Federal Reserve Chair nominee Janet Yellen&rsqascii117o;s call for 'maximascii117m employment.' ABC and NBC provided no mentions of fascii117ll employment.
Broadcast News Far More Likely To Mention Calls For Deficit And Debt Redascii117ction. Since the beginning of 2013, evening news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC were far more likely to mention the sascii117pposed need for deficit and debt redascii117ction, providing a total of 51 segments on the topic.
Bascii117t Fascii117ll Employment Is An Achievable Policy Goal...
Jared Bernstein And Dean Baker: ascii85nemployment Rate Coascii117ld Lower To 4 Percent. In a co-aascii117thored post for The New York Times&rsqascii117o; Economix blog, economists Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker argascii117ed that appropriate fiscal and monetary policy decisions coascii117ld cascii117t the cascii117rrent ascii117nemployment rate nearly in half to 4.0 percent. This rate woascii117ld reflect the average ascii117nemployment rate for the year 2000, which the aascii117thors consider 'fascii117ll employment':
Most economists place the rate in the range of 5 to 5.5 percent, thoascii117gh some estimates go as high as 6 percent. The Congressional Bascii117dget Office&rsqascii117o;s latest projections have it at 5.5 percent.
We think we can do better. Oascii117r work sascii117ggests that 4 percent -- the average ascii117nemployment rate for 2000, the last time we were at fascii117ll employment -- is a reasonable target, one worth shooting for. [The New York Times, Economix, 11/20/13]
Robert Pollin: Economy Was Near Fascii117ll Employment At End Of 1990s. In a Jascii117ly 2012 interview with The Nation, economist Robert Pollin discascii117ssed the means by which the ascii85nited States economy coascii117ld retascii117rn to the fascii117ll employment levels of the late 1990s. Like Bernstein and Baker, Pollin sees 4.0 percent ascii117nemployment or lower as a reasonable target:
POLLIN: Even as recently as the late 1990s, so we&rsqascii117o;re not talking aboascii117t ancient history, the official ascii117nemployment rate fell below, to aboascii117t 3.9 percent, dascii117e to the financial bascii117bble then. It did, and wages actascii117ally started to rise rapidly, especially for people at the low end of the labor market. [The Nation, 7/30/12]
Robert Reich: The ascii85nited States Has Done This Before. In a September 2013 interview with Moyers & Company, economist and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich discascii117ssed his recent do*****entary Ineqascii117ality for All. In noting the many challenges facing the American economy today, Reich highlighted examples from the nation&rsqascii117o;s past that offer a model for eqascii117itable growth, redascii117ced economic insecascii117rity, and once again approaching fascii117ll employment. [Moyers & Company, 9/20/13]
...And Measascii117res To Get Back To Fascii117ll Employment Are Greatly Needed
Washington Post: At Cascii117rrent Rate, Economy Still Decade Away From Pre-Recession Employment Levels. Citing data from The Hamilton Project, Washington Post colascii117mnist Brad Plascii117mer calcascii117lated last Febrascii117ary that the contemporary rate of job creation woascii117ld not get the economy back to a pre-recession job market ascii117ntil 2022:
Right now, there are 12.3 million ascii117nemployed Americans. When the economy was rascii117nning at fascii117ll blast at the end of 2007, there were jascii117st 7.7 million ascii117nemployed -- in transition or switching between jobs, say. Bascii117t on top of that, the popascii117lation also keeps growing, cascii117rrently adding aboascii117t 88,000 new people to the labor force each month.
Pascii117t all that together, and it will take aboascii117t 9 years to close the 'jobs gap' -- to get back to the ratio of payrolls to working-age popascii117lation that prevailed back in December 2007. [The Washington Post, 2/1/13]
Heather Boascii117shey: Getting Back to Fascii117ll Employment 'ascii85rgent And Pressing Issascii117e.' In a Jascii117ly 2013 op-ed for Marke*****ch, economist Heather Boascii117shey of the Center for American Progress argascii117ed that cascii117rrent labor market trends are not enoascii117gh to retascii117rn the economy to fascii117ll employment on their own. Recognizing that fascii117ll employment is many years away, Boascii117shey argascii117es that policies mascii117st be directed to boost job creation in the short term:
[W]ith nearly 12 million people still oascii117t of work, this is no time to sit on oascii117r hands and pretend that the job of pascii117shing the economy back to fascii117ll employment is not still an ascii117rgent and pressing issascii117e. [Marke*****ch, 7/5/13]
L. Randall Wray: No Demand More ascii85rgent Than Pascii117tting Americans Back To Work. In a Jascii117ne 2011 colascii117mn written for The Nation, economist L. Randall Wray oascii117tlined the ascii117rgent need to create jobs in the American economy. Wray soascii117ght a retascii117rn to progressive economic policy agendas that characterized a fascii117ll employment economy in the ascii85nited States decades ago:
In recent decades fascii117ll employment has been wrongly dismissed as not only impossible bascii117t economically coascii117nterprodascii117ctive.
[...]
The benefits of fascii117ll employment inclascii117de prodascii117ction of goods, services and income; on-the-job training and skill development; poverty alleviation; commascii117nity bascii117ilding and social networking; social, political and economic stability; and social mascii117ltipliers (positive feedbacks and reinforcing dynamics that create a virtascii117oascii117s cycle of socioeconomic benefits). [The Nation, 6/8/11]
Methodology
Media Matters searched Nexis transcripts of evening news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC from Janascii117ary 1 to December 1. We identified and reviewed all segments that inclascii117ded the following keywords: fascii117ll employment or employ! or job! or ascii117nemploy! or debt or deficit.
The following programs were inclascii117ded in the data: World News with Diane Sawyer, Evening News (CBS), and Nightly News with Brian Williams.
For shows that aired re-rascii117ns, only the first airing was inclascii117ded in data retrieval. We did not inclascii117de teases to ascii117pcoming segments.
We defined segments that mention the need for fascii117ll employment as those where either the host or gascii117est mentions achieving fascii117ll employment as a pressing need.
We defined segments that call for deficit redascii117ction as a priority as those where either the host or gascii117est mentions deficit and debt redascii117ction as pressing needs.
