Fox News Perception

I've been reading a lot of coverage about the financial distress that we've been facing since Lehman's bankruptcy with the credit crisis.  I've jumped from site to site until I came to foxnews.com to see what they would have to say about it.  They have a pro-business, pro-market stance so I would have thought that the headlines would put the exclamation on every new update.

Not so.  The story has always appeared in smaller font below the top story, which yesterday was the embassy bombing in Yemen.  That is understandable.  Today though, their headline is "US may shake up Afghan war strategy", and the picture story on the side is of the Ford Mustang Bullit muscle car.  What?

According to the article, it may not even be a formal review in the White House.  War is fluid and the officers in battle are deciding everyday what needs to be done.  This could be an article on any day of the week.  I don't know how the muscle car remake is front page material.  But it does make you think back to the good ol' days.

The big news is 200+ years of US financial history has changed in the span of a weekend.  Lehman and Merrill  were cornerstones of the American market.  Lehman's been around for 150 years, Merrill for about 100.  Lehman's got counterparties with every financial institution imaginable.  They've declared bankruptcy with over $600 billion in liabilities.  The effect on the market could be huge as other banks are figuring out their exposure to Lehman.

The perception that FoxNews is trying projecting on their front page is it's business as usual with a normal business correction.  It's an emphasis on war and by association, terrorism.  But that is dissonant from the events of the weekend which have created a huge shift in the financial landscape while the wars have remained static.

FoxNews' rearrangement of stories helps John McCain, who they have endorsed for President.  The emphasis on security and the destressing of the financial crisis plays to McCain's strength and diverts from his weakness.  It also avoids criticism of the current capital market system, which conservatives are a big proponent of.  Less taxes and less regulation is always the solution, regardless.

The way FoxNews has highlighted stories or pushed them back selectively is a key way to change the tone of the news.  It is this manipulation that enables them to push the emotional button of their readers on security issues and to avoid other issues that don't adhere to their philosophy.  It is a sly way to influence public opinion and is detrimental to our policy debates.