I’ve got a problem with traditional media, as you may have figured out. My biggest beef is the media’s need to generate content. The only way CNN, Fox News, CNBC and MSNBC have survived is their ability to create fear. When are you more likely to listen to the radio, when the weather is sunny and warm or when there’s a tornado warning? Tornado, because you’re scared and want to know what’s happening next. If nothing is happening, you aren’t listening. Logical conclusion, but media companies prey on this.

Dear reader you also know that I have an interest in consumer behaviors. Behavioral finance being my concentrated area. Naturally there is a link between what the media presents and how the public reacts. In the world of finance this link is stronger, because our wealth fluctuates daily. Despite our better judgement, we follow the stock ticker and cling to the latest quarterly reports. The media loves our fear of losing money and capitalizes on it. Their greatest skill has to be twisting numbers to fit their fearful agenda.

Numbers don’t lie, but people do. Case in point: Exxon Mobil. No corporation in the world had more profit last year than Exxon ($40 billion). Every time they release their earnings reports the media reacts with the following:

With the economy weakening and the prospect of $4-a-gallon gas looming for spring and summer, the hefty oil profits immediately renewed charges that Big Oil was profiting at the expense of most Americans. - Forbes

Where did we get that feeling from? Who told us that if an American company is profiting so greatly then we average folks suffer? The media did. Now, let me rephrase their statement into a more positive light.

Despite a weakening economy, investors have a renewed stance on the stability of Wall Street. Household brands and established industries continue to profit, providing confidence that 2008 can still be a good year. Exxon Mobil leads the fight in strengthening the dollar by bringing in record profits from their international businesses. The reinvestment of their record profits will create new jobs in the US and elsewhere.

I stated just as much truth, only I didn’t play on your fears. See how versatile $40 billion can be? The truth is somewhere in between my version and the Forbes version. Its the media’s job to simply report fact, leave the editorials for just that, editorials (and blogs). But perhaps your opinion of Big Oil has already been soiled. We’ll wait for another day to explain in full detail why Big Oil isn’t your enemy.

Related posts:

  1. Why Big Oil Isn’t Your Enemy
  2. Fortune 500’s Failings
  3. How Corporate Executives Should Be Paid
  4. Wachovia’s Bad Day?: A Lesson in Reading Between the Lines
  5. Media Covers Oil, Ignores Elephant in the Room

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