The Media's "Deficit" Disorder

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/eric-boehlert/36865/the-medias-deficit-disorder

If it seems that relentless news coverage of the federal deficit is coming at the expense of covering other economic issues, such as employment, that’s because it has. And if it seems that the conservative movement has been able to force the media to pay attention to precisely what they want them to (i.e. the deficit), that’s because conservatives have.

The press is suffering from “deficit” overload and Tea Party leaders are likely quite pleased, having made deficit reduction a hallmark of far-right movement. Indeed, the deficit coverage illustrates what happens when Republican and conservatives frame a national issue: the Beltway press falls in line.

Deficit! Deficit! Deficit!

Or, as an NPR anchor recently put it while introducing a political discussion, “the massive public debt” represents “the biggest problem facing the nation.”

More at the link --