We’ve all been watching the press coverage regarding the auto industry request for financial aid from the federal government. The press, particularly the New York media, has gone to great lengths to place the auto industry, its unionized workers, and the rust belt as a whole, in as poor a light as possible.
First, the New York media have gone the extra mile to paint the management of the companies as ignorant buffoons riding on private corporate jets; the unions as conspiring to ruin the American free enterprise system; and the entire U.S. auto industry as no different from Airlines or other considerably smaller industries that have used chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize.
ABC's New York based “Good Morning America” went to great pains to expose the private jet use by the auto CEOs. “Good Morning America” never provided any such coverage regarding any of the Wall Street entities that have received federal assistance, despite the fact that CEOs of major corporations commonly fly private due to their extremely busy schedules.
First, the New York media have gone the extra mile to paint the management of the companies as ignorant buffoons riding on private corporate jets; the unions as conspiring to ruin the American free enterprise system; and the entire U.S. auto industry as no different from Airlines or other considerably smaller industries that have used chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize.
ABC's New York based “Good Morning America” went to great pains to expose the private jet use by the auto CEOs. “Good Morning America” never provided any such coverage regarding any of the Wall Street entities that have received federal assistance, despite the fact that CEOs of major corporations commonly fly private due to their extremely busy schedules.
Fox News continuously derides the unions as a root cause of the industry’s problems. Never once have I heard them state the truth. Management has been complicit with the unions because avoiding strikes always guaranteed a profit. Until very recently, there was no “near term” incentive to stand up to union demands that rendered these companies non-competitive. Unions will try to get what they can just like anybody else. 
It’s up to management to look further than the period of time it will take to realize their own fat bonuses and cushy retirements, to make sure that long term company interests are preserved.
Fox News has repeatedly promoted the idea of bankruptcy, citing that other industries, such as the airlines, have done the same and come back. What they leave out of their implicit editorializing is the fact that these industries do not impact 1 in every 10 U.S. jobs and do not sell a consumer product that is the second largest purchase that most of us make. These facts render chapter 11 bankruptcy out of the question. People will not buy cars from a bankrupt company.
These New York based media outlets have never attacked the New York based Wall Street “bail out” like they have attacked the automotive request for a loan. Notice that I do not refer to the auto assistance as a “bail out”. The auto companies are freely agreeing to serious conditions (“strings”) on their loan requests.
In fact, the main reason they are approaching the government is the fact that the banks that were bailed out in October and November (with little or no strings attached) never loosened up credit despite that expectation from the federal government and the public! You hear very little of this from these New York based media outlets. Would these outlets act in the same manner if Detroit were the nation’s financial center?
The influential New York media outlets, including print media such as the New York Times and New York Post, need to exercise more care in their editorializing/reporting. They are dealing with real people with real jobs that are making things we need, with families to support; not businesses that push paper at an interest rate and act only in their own interests, even when they have their hands out.
It’s up to management to look further than the period of time it will take to realize their own fat bonuses and cushy retirements, to make sure that long term company interests are preserved.
Fox News has repeatedly promoted the idea of bankruptcy, citing that other industries, such as the airlines, have done the same and come back. What they leave out of their implicit editorializing is the fact that these industries do not impact 1 in every 10 U.S. jobs and do not sell a consumer product that is the second largest purchase that most of us make. These facts render chapter 11 bankruptcy out of the question. People will not buy cars from a bankrupt company.
These New York based media outlets have never attacked the New York based Wall Street “bail out” like they have attacked the automotive request for a loan. Notice that I do not refer to the auto assistance as a “bail out”. The auto companies are freely agreeing to serious conditions (“strings”) on their loan requests.
In fact, the main reason they are approaching the government is the fact that the banks that were bailed out in October and November (with little or no strings attached) never loosened up credit despite that expectation from the federal government and the public! You hear very little of this from these New York based media outlets. Would these outlets act in the same manner if Detroit were the nation’s financial center?The influential New York media outlets, including print media such as the New York Times and New York Post, need to exercise more care in their editorializing/reporting. They are dealing with real people with real jobs that are making things we need, with families to support; not businesses that push paper at an interest rate and act only in their own interests, even when they have their hands out.
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