I hate to be an ostrich and I would never tamper with First Amendment Rights, but I am seriously thinking that our country would be better off if there was a one or two month moratorium on reporting on the financial crisis. What better way to start to regain consumer confidence than allowing the American public a respite from the daily barrage of depression era doom and gloom. Dire, catastrophic, the Great Depression, spiraling downward, cataclysmic, crisis of unheard of proportions, uncharted waters, and events with no precedence, are all words and phrases that would be banned from all media for a period of two months. No press conferences, no speaking engagements, just a period when our leaders and economic advisors could actually do the work they are being paid to do, without fear of public criticism, without being under a microscope. Let us all remember that the Obama administration and their teams have only be charged with solving this problem 3 weeks ago. The solutions will not come from a week’s meeting around the table. It will take careful consideration and evaluation.
Meanwhile we have a concerned public, a hysterical Wall Street, and a world market that is hanging and reacting to every word, every nuance- even when much of the news is being rehashed over and over. So- my suggestion, just as there are news blackouts during wars, for very limited periods of time, why not have an economic news black out that could serve as a period to get everyone breathing again, might lighten everyone’s fears a tad, might even get consumers to purchase a few things… wisely, of course. A black out that could just give us all a respite to figure out how this economic situation is really effecting us instead of spending hours listening to reports of bankruptcy failings, unemployment lines, confused officials, warring economists. As a person who devours 2-3 newspapers or online sites a day, I would welcome it.
