EXCERPT:
KRUGMAN: "Well, I think that the big problem has been that the coverage has tended — you know, kind of, it bleeds, it leads, but this time and economic data, the negatives get all of the attention. And there's a lot of polling that indicates that people — you know, it's one thing for people to say, 'Look, the inflation matters to me more than the job gains,' but a plurality of voters appear to not be aware that we've been gaining jobs. You know, people just don't know. They — people say they've heard more news items, reporting negative news on employment, than positive. And employment is, of course, the economy's good point. So I think that what's happening now is that there's been a kind of a negativity bias in coverage, just, you know, the press should be giving people — people have their own personal experience. And if you ask people, 'How are you doing?' they are pretty — they're pretty upbeat. You know, there are signs that you know, people are complaining now especially, but things like gas prices, although those have come down in the last six weeks. But if you ask people, 'How's your financial situation?' it's pretty favorable. If you ask them, 'How's the economy?' they say, 'Oh, it's terrible.' And that's a media failing. Somehow, we are failing to convey the realities of what's going on to people."