Media adding to economic troubles: economic experts

“If (the media) keep saying the sky is falling, well, people think the sky is falling,” said Conference Board of Canada chief economist Glen Hodgson in a Canadian Press report.

Hodgson says Canadians are facing obvious economic issues these days, but that “the problems aren’t as deep or as widespread as perhaps people are being led to believe.” He suggests the bad news might be “amplified” by the media.

Others, including Catherine Swift, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and consultant Cliff Grevler agree that media coverage of the troubled economy has made the situation worse by decreasing consumer confidence and spending.

However, David Soberman, a marketing professor at the University of Toronto’s
Rotman School of Management, said the media’s reporting of the economy
is only overblown to those who don’t feel the impact. Soberman is quoted saying:

“To me, the suggestion that the media is making things worse can only be true if they are reporting things that are untrue.”