Abysmally poor service.

That is how I classify Big Media’s treatment of the news about our economy.

They ought to feel obliged to deliver a fairly accurate picture of our economy. Too many members of the group do not.

Now, should we expect Big Media to lean left or right when they interpret economic news? Sure. In their editorials, yes. In their opinion shows, yes. With their feature writing and columnists, of course.

But not in their news coverage. News about the economy tends to be factual. The facts typically come from unbiased sources. Sources like the Labor Department, Commerce and the Census Bureau. Reporting on the data ought to be a simple task.

Unfortunately, our Big Media are not up to that task.

We expect our politicians to spin the data. We expect our presidents and his spokespeople to exaggerate when the news is good.

We also expect whoever is out of power to pooh-pooh any data that make the economy look good. This is normal. And thus far this president and this opposition are right on script. Trump exaggerates. Meanwhile, the Dems would complain if GDP rose 200 percent in a month.  Under Obama the opposite was true. That is, the president exaggerated. The Republicans spun good news into bad.

Big Media, however, are not supposed to be partisan. At least not in delivering basic news.

These days there is a cascade of good news about the economy. Big Media report a trickle of it.

Government figures report incomes for 80 percent of our families rose an average of $1500 last year. That workers’ wages rose 3 percent last year. That lower-paid workers saw greater percentage gains than higher-paid workers. That median or average-income families saw gains of $5000 to $6000 the last three years.

Government figures tell us we have 1.4 million more job openings than the number of unemployed. And that we have had more openings than unemployed for 15 straight months.

Government figures tell us we are breaking records for low unemployment. For women, for blacks, for various minorities the unemployment figures are historically low, low, low.

Government figures tell us the number of people on food stamps has fallen dramatically. Productivity is increasing at a healthy clip. This will push workers’ pay up even more.

Government figures tell us poverty in America has fallen. In the past year 1.4 million people rose above the basic poverty line.

Government figures tell us inflation is tame. Which means that pay raises are real. And not floating on the froth of inflation.

Government figures tell us the threat of recession is not hovering over us.

This is encouraging news. Yes, there are always warning signs. In the midst of good news there is always some disquieting news. (For instance, businesses have lately slowed the rate of re-investing in new factories.) But one must be blind to not see that most of our economic news lately has been positive for this country.

Alas, Big Media ignore much of this good news. They simply do not report it. Or when they do, it is only in passing.

Too often Big Media serve up the good news only in small doses. And then add garbage like “But some economists remain skeptical about…”.

Too often Big Media devote 95 percent of the story to the critics of the good news. And 5 percent to the news itself.

The reasons for this dis-service are obvious. Most Big Media lean left. When there is news that favors the right they downplay it.  (They did a good job convincing most Americans we were in recession – when we were not – during the Bush administrations.)

The reasons why this dis-service is over-sized today is clear. Big Media despise the guy in the White House. Hardly a secret. They hate to give him any credit. Simply reporting the good news will do so, in their view. Especially when he has been boasting about the economy’s performance since he arrived. He shoves the good news in their mugs.

Big Media do themselves no favors in this. Millions of Americans notice.  As a result they trust media less and less. (Surveys certainly confirm this.) Which is not good for this country.

‘Tis a pity for sure. Big Media ought to deliver the news, good or bad, about our economy. If it pains them to do so, they don’t need to make comparisons between presidents or administrations. They don’t need to draw conclusions.

They ought to deliver the news on the economy straight up. At the very least.

From Tom…as in Morgan.

Find Tom at tomasinmorgan.com. You can write to Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com.