Media's Most Under Reported Issues in 2010

Recently that paragon of journalistic empty-headiness, television anchor Katie Couric, opined that Islamaphobia was the most under reported news of 2010. Apropos of her third-place CBS evening news ratings, Ms. Couric wasn't even close to rising to the top of the list of MIA (Missing-In-Action) news coverage. For Ms. Couric's benefit, and those in the dumbed-down media, here is a modest list of news stories that flew so far under the journalistic radar, most never made a blip.

1. The country experienced its worst year of bank failures since the Great Depression as nearly 160 institutions were shuttered. Yet other than an occasional story last year about the quarterly rise in bank closing, the media ignored the story. The news just didn't fit with the media's agenda of showing that economic recovery was upon us. There was no coverage attempting to explain why banks were continuing to fail, despite billions in bailouts.

2. More than 30,000 doctors in Texas alone, joined by thousands in other states, have stopped taking patients covered by Medicare. With the enactment of Obama Care, the government reduced payments to doctors and more cuts are scheduled in the coming years. As a result, doctors are dropping Medicare patients as frequently as Lady GaGa drops the "F' bomb. Intense news coverage of this issue would have raised fears about the already unpopular Obama Care, which most in the media supported.

3. On the subject of Obama Care, more than 200 businesses have been granted waivers by the government to opt out of the health initiative. More firms are lining up each day to apply for a waiver, signaling that serious flaws exist in the health reform legislation. Of course, except in rare cases, the news has escaped the front pages of newspapers or the evening news casts. It doesn't fit with the media's view.

4. Under pressure from Republicans, the Federal Reserve was finally compelled to release documents showing the full extent of its gargantuan bailout of banks. The reports show trillions in dollars went to four big banks: Citigroup ($2.2 trillion); Merrill Lynch ($2.1 trillion); Morgan Stanley ($2 trillion) and Bank of America ($1.1 trillion.) It was scandalous that the media chose to report the details on its back pages and after a day dropped its coverage. More media digging should have followed, especially in light of the promises of transparency from the Obama Administration.

5. Freddie Mac and its sister Fannie Mae, the two taxpayer-funded mortgage behemoths, are both teetering on the precipice of bankruptcy, despite receiving $148 billion in bailout money. The property lenders' regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has estimated taxpayers could actually be on the hook for $259 billion by 2013. Both entities owned more than 240,000 foreclosed homes in December of last year. While the government pours more tax dollars into the mortgage giants, the news media has virtually ignored their impending collapse.

As you can see, Ms. Couric, there have been more important news stories than the one you suggested that have gone unreported or under reported on your lousy network and on the pages of most newspapers, which are suffering a slow death, just like your nightly newscast. Perhaps, if you and other so-called journalists paid more attention to actually covering the 'news' instead of pursuing your own agenda, you might see things differently.

By the way, Ms. Couric, have a nice evening.