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Uncovering the Truths of: Business and Economic News
Uncovering the Truths of: Business and Economic News
James H. Coleman IV
University of Hartford
Monday, January 9, y
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Uncovering the Truths of: Business and Economic News
Uncovering the Truths of: Business and Economic News
During the financial crisis of 2008 America saw a plethora of business headlines in the
news that only focused on the negative things companies were experiencing. Eight years later
many critics believe business news pages favor issues related to management and downplay the
role of everyday employees. As well as, favoring positive business stories such as managers’
promotions and minimizing negative news (Campbell, Martin, Fabos, 2014). In reality, positive
news stories will always be favored, but negative ones are still covered and not shied away from.
It is clear stories related to management are preferred, but the role of everyday employees is not
downplayed. The pattern of business news has changed since the economic downfall of 2008.
To begin, take a step back to the economic crisis we faced in 2008, so we can better
understand where these news headlines were originating. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there
was an explosion in the issuance of bonds backed by mortgages, also known as mortgage-backed
securities. Investment banks were buying mortgages from mortgage issuers, repackaging them
and then selling off specific tranches of the debt to investors. The peak years for issuing these
mortgages was in 2005-2006, so by 2007-2008 the default rates on the mortgages suddenly
spiked (Financial Crisis, n.d.). This inevitably effected the entire investment banking industry,
the biggest insurance company, the two enterprises chartered by the government to facilitate
mortgage lending, the largest mortgage lender, and two of the largest commercial banks
(Havemann, n.d.). America had no financial confidence, its largest corporations were going
bankrupt, and American’s were broke and scared for their future.
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Uncovering the Truths of: Business and Economic News
To continue, it is easier understand the news headlines published during 2008 now with a
small background of events that were occurring then. In 2008, majority of journalists had a
magnified glass under the actions many large firms were taking to save their company or adapt to
the economic downfall they were facing. Some of the news headlines in 2008 were titled:
“Lehman Weighs Split to Shed Troubling Loans”, “Lehman Files for Bankruptcy, Merrill Sold”,
“Worst Crisis Since ‘30s, With No End in Sight”, and “For Stocks, Worst Single-Day Drop in
Two Decades” just to name a handful (Harper, 2013). These headlines show more about the
status of America as a whole, rather then just stories of huge firms failing. After exploring these
news headlines and many more, it is clear that negative stories about management in large
companies were favored during this crisis.
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