FAIR HAS an article out focusing on poverty and the coverage the subject does not get from top echelon national media in the country. It’s simply not on big media’s radar.
Part of the issue is that neither Barack Obama or Mitt Romney talk about poverty. There’s no advantage to it, because both political parties are focused on austerity. Even Democrats voted against SNAP, with the current political thinking that too many people are on food stamps because they want to be.
Discussions of poverty in campaign coverage were so rare that PBS NewsHour had the highest percentage of its campaign stories addressing poverty—with a single story, 0.8 percent of its total. ABC World News, NBC Nightly News, NPR’s All Things Considered, and Newsweek ran no campaign stories substantively discussing poverty.
The New York Times included substantive information about poverty in just 0.2 percent of its campaign stories and opinion pieces—placing it third out of the eight outlets, behind PBS and CBS.
By contrast with other issues that have received wider attention in recent campaign coverage, “poverty” was mentioned at all, with or (most often) without substantive discussion, in just 3 percent of campaign stories (309 stories) in the eight outlets. This compares to “deficit” and “debt,” which were mentioned about six times as often, in 18 percent (1,848) of election stories.
Even throwing a wider net, to include stories that mentioned “poverty,” “low income,” “homeless,” “welfare” or “food stamps,” turned up just 945 pieces, 10 percent of total election stories—still well below the rate at which “debt” and “deficit” were mentioned.
In the current election year, when neither the incumbent Democratic president nor any of his challengers in the GOP primary have been making poverty even a minor issue, such “rules” are relegating tens of millions of struggling citizens to virtual invisibility.
But Obama and Romney both made a video, and answered Sojourners’ question about poverty (September 12 post). I mean, what more could we ask? What more could the people living in or near poverty; the people who have devoted years, decades to make this “issue” visible, want? And of course, that Census Bureau report recently released (September 12 post), that would have just been too boring for the campaign trail, the media or the public in general.
“Middle class first!” was the poster message from the Democratic Convention. That’s the campaign trail message, too. In truth, of course, the really serious conversations are not about the middle class, certainly not about the poor.
For a very long time I’ve stayed frustrated and angry about the failure of this nation, including Electeds but not limited to them, to notice those living in poverty. And when they finally are acknowledged, to have that recognition done with respect.
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In truth, of course, the really serious conversations are not about the middle class, certainly not about the poor.
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That’s Twenty-First Century American discourse for you – everyone for himself. Since the rich control the message, no one else’s problems are all that important.
Tavis Smiley and Cornell West have been on t.v. very recently promoting their poverty tour. They are the only ones I see bringing up the issue. One of them said that poverty will bring down our democracy which I don’t think is too far fetched – it will. Poverty affects everything in our country – including education (which the “reformers” fail to acknowledge), rising health care costs, etc. We have a 20% poverty rate in this country which is unacceptable.
lynnette – you are absolutely right when you say that poverty will bring down our democracy. The myth that people want to live on food stamps is absolutely false. It’s demeaning for them to have to go to the supermarket and present the stamps. Many of the people who come into breakfast tell me they shop when few people are in the stores because they don’t want people to know they are on food stamps. When people cannot feed their families they take drastic action because they have nothing to lose. That we have a 20% poverty rate in this country should make every American bow their head in shame. This is America for crying out loud and this isn’t supposed to happen.
Why should we hear about the poor and poverty. Oh, we mean, it’s not relevant. So why should we waste my beautiful minds on something like that?
Mitt & BO, 2012