The Wall Street Journal was a publication that I considered to be the last bastion of free market news with an impeccable reputation. Notice the past tense. An editorial in the WSJ comparing patriots (Tea Party members) to hobbits was read by Sen. McCain and then used in a speech on the senate floor last week.
Here is another example of their journalistic prowess. Do you see the flaw in the following excerpt from their article concerning the jobless claims:
Jobless Claims Remain Elevated
The number of people claiming new jobless benefits remained broadly flat at an elevated level last week, pointing to persistent weakness in the U.S. labor market.
New claims for unemployment insurance fell by just 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 400,000 in the week ended July 30, the Labor Department said Thursday. That followed a 21,000 decline the previous week, which was revised from an originally reported 24,000 drop.
The great economic news last week was the reported drop in unemployment below the 400,000 baseline to 398,000. Instead of reporting this week that this baseline was not broken, they reported a drop of 24,000.
The last sentence in the excerpt reads:
That followed a 21,000 decline the previous week, which was revised from an originally reported 24,000 drop.
This is how the last sentence should read:
That followed a 21,000 decline the previous week, which was revised from an originally reported 24,000 drop which made the unemployment figure for last week 401,000 instead of 398,000.
There is no doubt that the Wall Street Journal has joined the main stream media.
David DeGerolamo
