What does it mean for a society when major media outlets are creating news tag lines to put on websites and in newspapers for collections of articles on the quiet desperation of so many Americans? That is what has happened at two large media outlets in the last few weeks--The Wall Street Journal and CNN.
The media focus is on the economic funk we are living in. They are highlighting how, for many Americans, hopes and dreams have been at best delayed and at worst abandoned. They are shining a spotlight on the growing divide between the rich and the poor and the struggle for many merely to survive in this difficult economy. They also focus on the lack of both jobs and hope.
In an earlier posting today, I reviewed the Wall Street Journal's excellent series of articles that have been appearing about the high unemployment rates for our youth, particularly young men and women under the age of 25. This series is entitled Generation Jobless and the following is the "logo" they have created for the stories on this sad topic:
CNN Money is also running a series on their website entitled "American Dream Deferred"
The following are the headlines so far in this series:
- Class Warfare: Who Pays Their Fare Share of Taxes?
- Poverty Pervades the Suburbs
- Middle Class Income Falls...But Not Everywhere
- Faces of Poverty
- A Rough 10 Years for the Middle Class
- See: http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/american-dream-deferred/?iid=EL
The latest CNN Money addition to the "American Dream Deferred" series is: "Global Income Inequality: Where the U.S. Ranks". See: http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/08/news/economy/global_income_inequality/index.htm?iid=Lead
America ranks in the bottom third in income inequality out of 90 countries and is one of the lowest in the developed world. In fact Russia is slightly better than than U.S.
I truly hope to see fewer of these types of stories very soon.
I truly hope to see fewer of these types of stories very soon.
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