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Which economic catastrophe should take pride of place? The collapse in real estate? Or the downfall of the automobile industry? The 4m homebuyers who are behind on their mortgage payments en route to foreclosure? Or the 2.5m workers who could face unemployment if General Motors goes bankrupt? ABC and CBS chose housing, as FannieMae, the mortgage guarantor, announced procedures for modifying home loan repayment plans. NBC chose autos, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her support for a federal bailout of Detroit. Autos, by a whisker, qualified as Story of the Day.

All three newscasts publicized the study by the Center for Automotive Research that projected the ripple effect of any of Detroit's Big Three automakers going out of business. Including workers, dealers, suppliers and support industries, one shutdown amounts to 2.5m layoffs. CNBC's automobile correspondent Phil LeBeau translated that on NBC into $125bn in annual income. "Detroit says it just needs a $25bn bridge loan to get through this rough patch," reported CBS' Anthony Mason. By "rough patch" he meant "an auto industry that is crashing. General Motors' sales fell 45% in October. It is bleeding $2bn in cash a month and cannot borrow."

For $5, CBS' Mason pointed out, an investor can buy a share of both Ford and General Motors. He asked an unidentified Wall Street analyst whether they were worth it: "There are better things you can do with your money." On ABC, Chris Bury (no link) doubted that a $25bn bailout would do the job. His figure was $75bn. "But if we are bailing out autos, why not steel companies, airlines or newspapers?" he asked rhetorically, gazing into a socialist future.


Andrew Tyndall 11/12/08 10:45:08 pm

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