MediaWatch: September 1993
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: September 1993
- Networks Promote Government-Directed Systems, Obscure Cost, Quality
- NewsBites: Execution Exaggerations
- Revolving Door: Democrat to Democrat to...
- Newsweek Says Black Families Have Only One Savior
- Post Finds "Extremists" on Right
- Glassman Breaks Myth
- Newsroom Ideology Stays Liberal
- Janet Cooke Award: CBS Sunday Morning's Jerry Bowen Portrays Church, Pope as Out of Touch
Glassman Breaks Myth
Reporters and politicians keep talking about federal "budget cuts," but former Roll Call Editor James Glassman has proved that those claims are "essentially a fraud." In a July 30 Washington Post "Business" section analysis, Glassman explained the government calculates "budget cuts from an imaginary number called the baseline." The baseline is figured by factoring in population increases and other "technical" measures. A program could cost $50 billion one year, while baseline adjustments mean it will take $53 billion the next year to reach the same percent of the population. So if the budget for that program jumps to $52 billion, the media will consider that a $1 billion "cut."
Take the Clinton budget deal, for example. "The final hurdle was getting agreement on a cutback of $56 billion in Medicare, part of nearly $250 billion the plan promises to slash in everything from defense to social programs over the next five years," insisted CBS reporter Bob Schieffer on the August 2 Evening News. In fact, as Glassman explained, Medicare is one of the most "cut" programs because the baseline regularly calls for huge annual increases: "From 1993 to 1994, for example, the CBO's [Congressional Budget Office] Medicare baseline will rise by about $21 billion, or 14 percent. The budget will cut that increase by about $2 billion, but the hike will still be at least 12 percent. Thanks to baseline budgeting, oldsters are now screaming about planned reductions in Medicare spending, even though spending will rise at about triple the rate of inflation."
Untold Stories
During the Pope's visit to Denver, ABC's Jeff Greenfield noted that 60 percent of Americans "say they consider religion very important in their lives." So, he asked on the August 13 World News Tonight, "Why is religion so rarely seen in the media?"
Greenfield told viewers: "Only 50 newspapers in America even have a full-time religion reporter. The major TV networks have none." He explained that "news and drama rely on conflict, action" which is why they focus on dissent and scandals in religion as opposed to the "quiet, daily influence of faith." Add to that "the nature of media people -- more skeptical, more secular." He also noted the absence of religious themes in entertainment television. Greenfield concluded: "The ongoing influence of religion in daily life goes all but ignored. This, in a country where on any given weekend there are more people in houses of worship than attend major league baseball games all year long."
