TV Networks Take Swing at Renewable Fuels, Miss the Facts (5-7-07)

It sure felt like Sweeps Week last week on network television, given the spate of sensational reporting the major networks -- CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC -- dished out on corn and ethanol.

Using unattributed statistics and uninformed rhetoric, a pair of news reports suggested consumers are paying significantly more for their groceries today than they did one year ago. The cause? Apparently, CBS’s Cynthia Bowers and NBC’s Anne Thompson seem to think higher corn prices are to blame.

In a report that aired April 27 on CBS, Bowers states, “eggs are up 23 percent compared to a year ago (and) chicken prices as much as 27 percent,” as a result of increased demand and higher prices for corn. Unfortunately, Bowers fails to cite her source for these questionable statistics. If she’d talked to anyone at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (the division of the Department of Labor that meticulously tracks retail grocery prices), she would have learned that between March 2006 and March 2007, fresh chicken prices are up a measly 1.6 percent per pound. While the price for a carton of one dozen large eggs is indeed higher than it was a year ago, the price in March 2007 averaged just one penny more than it did in March 2004.

Bowers says corn priced at “four bucks a bushel” is to blame for the alleged food price increases. She fails to report that corn futures prices have been trading under $4 since for the last month and a half. The day the CBS story aired, corn was $3.64 per bushel on the futures market and considerably less in cash markets. Furthermore, most livestock and poultry feeders buy their corn months in advance on long-term contracts. So the corn being fed today likely was purchased for less than $3 per bushel six months ago, or closer to $2 per bushel a year ago.

It is interesting that Bowers omitted two other key facts regarding commodity price trends: 1.) on the day the report aired, national average gasoline and diesel fuel prices jumped dramatically and reached their highest levels since the summer of 2006; and 2.) transportation and energy costs figure prominently into the price a consumer pays for groceries.

What we’ve sadly taken note of, however, is the increasing propensity of news programs to describe their programming as “balanced journalism,” as they fail to check their facts and cite their sources. Sure, NBC Nightly News called the National Corn Growers Association to talk about ethanol for its program last week. Their producers even said they were looking to do a “balanced” piece. They spoke with NCGA President Ken McCauley for nearly an hour and apparently decided the facts weren’t what they were looking for after all.

Over the weekend, Fox News commentator Steven Milloy cited last month’s computer model that claimed ethanol was a worse polluter than gasoline, without mentioning that the study had been discredited almost immediately. Since Milloy is a commentator, perhaps we shouldn’t hold him to as high a standard of being “fair and balanced” as Fox News claims to be.

But the real winner in this heaping scoop of hogwash is ABC’s 20/20 and its correspondent John Stossel. NCGA called the show’s producers offering to provide information, a spokesperson. They were polite. They listened. And they ran the most outrageous piece of the week; truly our winner for most unenlightened in news programming. Notice anything sensational about the title of the piece: “Sacrificing Our Children to the Corn Gods”? As Stossel himself might say, “Gimme a break!”

All of this might be laughable, if it weren’t so downright pathetic. Millions of consumers tune into these “news” programs seeking factual information. But good news doesn’t sell; fear does. Even Stossel tells us that that in his book “Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity”:

“MYTH: The media will check it out and give you the objective truth.

TRUTH: Many in the media are scientifically clueless, and will scare you to death. We don't do it on purpose. We just want to give you facts. But the people who bring us story ideas are alarmed. Then we get alarmed, and eager to rush that news to you.

We know that the scarier and more bizarre the story, the more likely it is that our bosses will give us more air time or a front-page slot. The scary story, justified or not, will get higher ratings and sell more papers. Fear sells. That's the reason for the insiders' joke about local newscasts: "If it bleeds, it leads."

Also, raising alarms makes us feel important.”

If Stossel really wants to feel important, we suggest he take a look at last Friday’s new national high of $3.07 for a gallon of gasoline.

Scary? You bet.