There was a time when just about every American news organisation had at least one reporter dedicated to the labour beat. Yet, over the years, the US media has deserted workers and sought more upscale, affluent audiences. When labour issues are reported, they are often seen through the lens of business, leaving little opportunity for the US working class too see itself and its concerns reflected in the media.
When you consider that more 150 million Americans are in full or part time employment it’s a wonder there aren’t more stories about workers and the challenges they face in testing economic times.
Some of the news space that used to be devoted to labour issues has been surrendered to market and business news, as newspapers abandon mass readership in favour the more upscale, affluent audiences their advertisers are chasing. And then there’s the journalists themselves and the class divide. Even though they share many of the economic concerns their readers have, they don’t seem to identify with the working man or woman.
“Labour as an issue has been really absent from the media coverage,” explains Michelle Chen, contributing writer of The Nation. “Business reporting, whatever we call economics reporting now, is focused on financial markets. And we know from our everyday lives that financial markets is not where 99.9% of Americans live their lives.”
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