Woman to Woman

by Shaunti Feldhahn and Andrea Sarvady

The popular WOMAN TO WOMAN debate between liberal Andrea Sarvady and conservative Shaunti Feldhahn provides a provocative look at the many social and women's issues that still divide our culture and drive debate between the sexes and among women. A weekly crossfire you don't want to miss.

Samples

WOMAN TO WOMAN by Shaunti Feldhahn and Andrea Sarvady

RECESSION AND THE REMOTE CONTROL

Are the media contributing to driving the economy into a tree?

Shaunti Feldhahn, a right-leaning columnist, writes the commentary this week, and Andrea Sarvady, a left-leaning columnist, responds.

---

SHAUNTI FELDHAHN (COMMENTARY):

Sometimes I wonder whether reporters willfully trade Econ 101 for ratings. We're not in a recession, but the average person thinks we are -- mostly because economic news is covered to inject the most negative drama. A succession of news anchors recently intoned that the unemployment rate "surged" from 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent.

Not once have I heard a reporter add, "Now, just so you know, we're still at what economists consider full employment, and this uptick is expected to be corrected soon."

Why is it that bad news gets covered, but not enough to also explain the very real good news? (For example, have you heard any coverage of states, such as Texas, hitting their lowest unemployment numbers ever?) It would be one thing if we really were in a recession, but after one quarter of correction, we've had two quarters of positive growth.

To someone losing a job, it understandably feels like crisis time. And some states and some sectors, such as housing, are truly struggling. Certain factors -- fuel and health care costs -- are indeed hurting the economy. But in general, the economy still isn't nearly as bad off as the media make it out to be. The problem, of course, is the more people believe we're in a recession, the more they'll hold back spending and create a self-fulfilling prophesy.

In an interview, Heritage Foundation senior fellow J.D. Foster predicted our likely upcoming economic and media trends:

"Late in 2008, we will move to 4 percent growth. Now, the media will probably push the recession story as long as they can, grab the bad news instead of good news -- every layoff from a company -- even when growth is accelerating. Unemployment claims should drop, and industrial production is already up -- but they will ignore that, even though those are good economic indicators to watch. Thankfully, the financial press has a different market, so people who need good information will find it there."

Legendary former "60 Minutes" producer Don Hewitt recently responded to criticism of presidential debate coverage with acknowledgement that coverage includes "a big dose of show biz" and "trying to keep an audience." He said, "When you're in television, that's your job."

Funny, I thought their job was to present the actual news.

ANDREA SARVADY (REBUTTAL):

I agree with Shaunti that the job of the media is to present the actual news. So forgive me for being confused when she wants anchor folks to put down their sheaf of notes and add a little sunshine to the financial forecast. Things are looking pretty gray out there, at least in part because members of the current administration seem to have forgotten what they learned in Econ 101: Out-of-control spending plus tax cuts equals a massive deficit.

It's hard to fault Bush apologists for wanting to foist blame on media hype, but even most Republicans believe that neighborhoods filled with foreclosures do more to undermine consumer confidence than dramatic headlines. To remain viable, news may be presented with distracting flash these days (we can thank former GOP politico Roger Ailes and his Fox News Network for starting that trend), but the substance is still there. Like the new tone or not, the alternative is still unthinkable: Soviet-style press restrictions where the government decides what we should hear and how we should hear it.

The fact that 75 percent of Americans believe we're in a recession has more to do with varying definitions of recession than anything else and our desire to face down all the indicators of tough times ahead.

"We are absolutely going to have a recession," David Wessel, one member of the trustworthy financial press, declared in an interview. Wessel, economics editor for The Wall Street Journal, went on to explain that "the problem with predicting a recession is this: When it's obvious you're in a recession, it's too late to do anything about it. But there's no way to know for sure if you're going to have one."

It's a frustrating reality, but most Americans are handling it well -- still spending while making job, education and real estate decisions with an eye on the storm clouds.

Shaunti seems to share her Heritage Foundation spokesperson's optimism for an economic pick-me-up by the end of this year. I hope she's right, but if the next economic surge takes place during a Democratic administration, will they praise our new president for picking up the pieces? Or will that good fortune be a media illusion as well?

---

Andrea (ASarvad@gmail.com) is a writer and educator specializing in counseling, and a married mother of three. Shaunti (scfeldhahn@yahoo.com) is a conservative Christian author and speaker, and married mother of two children.

COPYRIGHT 2008 SHAUNTI FELDHAHN AND ANDREA SARVADY

^ Top | View more samples