Is the downturn a massive media beat up?

Dear Aunty B,

I read your news and your Aunty B yesterday, and honestly I feel like I am on some parallel planet.

I run a small design studio, our order book is full, I am hiring new staff and this week turned work away. In fact I think things are getting even better!

I just don’t believe the doom and gloom out there. Is this a massive media beat up? And can you see any good news out there??

DJ,
Sydney.

Hi DJ,

Bully for you. Some businesses in some sectors are still booming and aren’t they the lucky ones?

I had a look at your website and you are on a parallel planet. The planet supported by taxpayers. You do a lot of design work for government, which,, in case you hadn’t noticed, plans to spend its way through the crisis, so I am not surprised you are doing well.

As for the media beating this up… us? Never! What happens is the media reads the signs, examines the trends, and reports the news. When the news is bad, we report the bad. We also report who is doing well and how they are doing well. It’s just the former outweighs the latter at present, which is what we are reporting.

I do agree with you on one thing. I believe we are over the worst. Some business owners have reported that the last month was akin to falling off a cliff; some businesses just came to a dead halt.

That is a big psychological shock. Fortunately, shock for entrepreneurs quickly translates into action.

So while we are now in for a rocky economic ride, the main shock of the financial meltdown (that we all knew was coming) has hit – and been absorbed. That, my happy friend, is good news! That your business is doing well is also good news.

Good luck!

Your Aunty B.

Comments

Dave Westman writes: I agree. The media is mostly just reporting facts. The problem lies in the general public’s response to media reporting. The slightest negative is seared into the brain like a poker from the cracker-night bonfire. Any upside or reporting that puts things in perspective is like an airline steward’s safety talk – it’s there, but no one cares. I am only referring to the masses here as most business owners I know read more than the headlines, looking for as much information as they can to create an informed opinion. The problem is that the great unwashed are making most of the spending decisions and are taking on board all the bad news from America as if it were their own. The biggest threat to our economy is fear and it’s much easier to create fear than calm. Or, maybe I just view the world through my rose-coloured sunglasses that are standard issue for Queenslanders.