It has been fashionable to malign the media for many years. While generalizations are usually wrong, my perspective is different. Ignoring the obvious extremes of Fox, MSNBC, and HDNet, I find the majority of media to be well-meaning but hapless in the face of increasing complexity.
As an example, last night about 10PM, I was watching the Asian markets on Bloomberg. It was ugly, with most down 1.5-2.0%. Then, there was the breaking news that the psychotic despot of North Korea had died.
When I got up this morning, the headlines were "Asian stocks fall on death of North Korean leader." That is not true. The markets were already down before the news broke. In fact, the Asian markets had improved during the interim, curbing their losses. In addition, Dow futures were down 47 when the news broke but up 48 this morning.
Q -- What did I learn from the death of Kim Jong Il?
A -- That the vast majority of media are indeed well-meaning but hapless.
As an example, last night about 10PM, I was watching the Asian markets on Bloomberg. It was ugly, with most down 1.5-2.0%. Then, there was the breaking news that the psychotic despot of North Korea had died.
When I got up this morning, the headlines were "Asian stocks fall on death of North Korean leader." That is not true. The markets were already down before the news broke. In fact, the Asian markets had improved during the interim, curbing their losses. In addition, Dow futures were down 47 when the news broke but up 48 this morning.
Q -- What did I learn from the death of Kim Jong Il?
A -- That the vast majority of media are indeed well-meaning but hapless.
