economy

Entries Tagged as 'economy'

The Facebook Data Center Story: Is it really a “Big Win” for New Mexico?

September 22nd, 2016 · 2 Comments · corporate welfare, economy, journalism

By Arthur Alpert As a citizen who has read the Albuquerque Journal’s reporting and editorializing on Facebook’s decision to build a data center in Los Lunas, I am skeptical. I suspect New Mexico’s embrace of that deal will end badly. But it’s a complex arrangement and there are some unanswered questions, so I’ll try to […]

Blaming the Poor

June 27th, 2016 · 4 Comments · economy, inequality, journalism, labor

By Arthur Alpert Reading the Albuquerque Journal’s editorials is unpleasant but educational. The most obvious, daily lesson is the firm connection between the editorials and the news (and opinion) pages of the newspaper, a direct line from management’s political agenda to what the editors choose to print (or ignore) as “news.” Put another way, there’s […]

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Tags:Arthur Alpert·Robert Samuelson

Lessons in Public Interest Journalism from “Spotlight” and “The Big Short”

April 14th, 2016 · 1 Comment · economy, financial coverage, journalism, regulation

By Arthur Alpert I’m so old I prefer to see movies in movie houses, so when the 2016 Oscar winner, “Spotlight” and one of its competitors, “The Big Short” finally arrived at the dollar theater (which isn’t a buck anymore), I caught both of them in one week. “The Big Short” sought to turn Michael […]

Marketing Plutocracy

February 1st, 2016 · No Comments · budget policy, economy, Fact Check, financial coverage, journalism, social safety net, tax policy

By Arthur Alpert It may not be much of a newspaper but – credit where credit is due – in its marketing of plutocracy, the Albuquerque Journal is single-minded. Today, Monday, Feb. 1, there’s Page One box headlined “Bad news for NM permanent funds”. It refers readers to a story in the Business Outlook section, […]

A Win for Win

January 28th, 2016 · 2 Comments · economy, journalism, role of government

By Arthur Alpert I’ve just finished reading Winthrop Quigley’s thoughtful Thursday, Jan. 28 UpFront column tying New Mexico’s population losses to the state’s failing economy and I still cannot decide if he’s a super journalist or simply very good. You understand the problem – seen in contrast to what the Journal does day in and […]

Economic Mobility and Poverty: Journal’s political agenda overrides the facts

November 30th, 2015 · 3 Comments · economy, Fact Check, inequality, journalism, Koch brothers, social safety net

By Arthur Alpert It is Monday, Nov. 30 and having just finished reading the Albuquerque Journal, I’m shaking my head. It’s more of the same. Political advocacy I mean, disguised as journalism. Sorry Donald Trump, the daily’s editors don’t want you to be the GOP nominee. Sorry, Hillary Clinton, judging from today’s double-barreled assault (yet […]

Daily Politicization of the News

September 18th, 2015 · 2 Comments · climate change, economy, financial coverage, health care reform, journalism, Koch brothers, role of government

By Arthur Alpert The Albuquerque Journal’s daily politicization of news isn’t always dramatic. The editors don’t slip political material into Associated Press stories every day. Nor do they edit those AP accounts to remove “objectionable” content every day. Sometimes Journal commissars are content to employ relatively pedestrian tools. Today, for example, Friday, Sept. 18, there’s […]

Politics Driving News Coverage: The TPP Story

June 29th, 2015 · No Comments · economy, journalism

By Arthur Alpert Halfway through “The Underpants”, the Carl Sternheim/Steve Martin farce at the Vortex (in which I have a small role), Versati, a poet, says to the government clerk, “I can’t believe that you believe what you believe!” I feel that way about the Albuquerque Journal, but must concede that management is deeply invested […]

Editorial Board Plays Canard Game; UpFront Columnist Commits Act of Journalism

February 1st, 2015 · No Comments · economy, Fact Check, financial coverage, journalism, labor, NM Legislature, regulation, role of government, Uncategorized

By Arthur Alpert I was poised to launch into another critique of the Albuquerque Journal’s continuing assault on truth and beauty when Winthrop Quigley intervened, committing what looks very much like journalism. Quigley wasn’t a spoiler, though; he just provided a sharp contrast between the Journal’s insistent political advocacy and what staffers like Quigley strive […]

The Stories That Cannot Exist

January 17th, 2015 · 1 Comment · campaign finance reform, Congress, economy, financial coverage, health care reform, journalism, regulation

By Arthur Alpert All hail Nick Estes’ Op Ed column in the January 9 issue of the Albuquerque Journal. We won’t see its like for a long time. Under the rubric, “Yes, we DO know how to fix the economy”, Estes took syndicated columnist Robert Samuelson to task for writing the reverse. Estes explained: “The […]