1982, 2009: Networks Find Identical Unemployment Numbers 'Good ' News for Obama, But 'All' Bad for Reagan
October 1, 2009 by Julia A. Seymour
Unemployment is currently at a 26-year-high of 9.7 percent and expected to continue rising. The last president to govern with such high unemployment was President Ronald Reagan.
But in 1982, when unemployment was rising similarly to the way it has in 2009 the network news media were merciless quoting attacks from Democrats, union leaders and the unemployed to attack Reagan's "sadistic" fiscal policies.
2009 was a different story, for a different president. Even though unemployment has shot up from 8.1 percent since February, network reporters looked for "hopeful signs" of an economic turnaround in their jobs report.
news media, bias, liberalism, left wing, hypocrisy, economics, economy,