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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged entitlement reform

1. April 17, 2012 04:09 PM

   EXTRA Unpacks the Media’s Medicare Coverage

   Are journalists writing for doctors or for patients?

   By Trudy Lieberman

   I don’t know Amy Poe, a writer and Medicare consumer based in Little Rock, Arkansas. But I like a piece she wrote for EXTRA, a monthly magazine of commentary and criticism of the press. I suspect most Beltway reporters and those who toil in smaller circles don’t know much about FAIR, a progressive media watchdog group that publishes EXTRA. But...

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2. January 4, 2012 12:46 PM

   A Good Payroll Tax Piece from the Post

   Finally, some balance from WaPo

   By Trudy Lieberman

   At last The Washington Post, which shaped much of the media coverage of the defcit and entitlement discussion last year, has produced a very good story about Social Security. This one offers another take on the Democrats’ drive to extend the payroll tax for the next two months. The message of Jia Lynn Yang’s piece: cutting payroll tax contributions to...

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3. November 11, 2011 12:18 PM

   A Laurel to the AP

   For its eye-opening story on Social Security

   By Trudy Lieberman

   The AP’s recent story on proposed changes in the derivation of Social Security’s cost of living (COLA) formula is the kind of explainer we have urged the press to write. The piece, written by Stephen Ohlemacher, lays out exactly what will happen to people—and not just seniors already on Social Security, but others who will be affected by a new...

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4. April 18, 2012 11:55 AM

   How the Media Has Shaped the Social Security Debate

   The press plays a dubious role

   By Trudy Lieberman

   Shortly after the 2010 midterm elections, Washington Post budget correspondent Lori Montgomery reported that, while a debate raged around major budgetary changes and the wisdom of cutting Social Security, a “surprisingly broad consensus is forming around the actions required to stabilize borrowing and ease fears of a European-style debt crisis in the United States.” A consensus among whom, we...

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5. April 27, 2012 02:17 PM

   Report Card on Social Security Trust Fund Coverage

   An F for the headlines; a C- for the stories

   By Trudy Lieberman

   This week, Social Security trustees issued their annual report on the program’s financial health. The news was expected: Social Security will be able to pay full benefits to Americans currently receiving benefits and those new to the system for the next 21 years—until 2033. After that, if there are no new revenues added (an unlikely proposition), recipients will still receive...

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6. January 9, 2012 12:29 PM

   Santorum Goes After Social Security

   The AP covers Rick's empty rhetoric

   By Trudy Lieberman

   Noting the media’s trivial pursuit of rising star Rick Santorum, my colleague Erika Fry has called for more substantive reporting on the candidate’s past and policy visions. I say “amen,” and applaud the fact the AP at least devoted a somewhat lengthy story to his call for immediate cuts to Social Security benefits. “We can’t wait 10 years,” Santorum told...

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7. February 8, 2012 02:37 PM

   Some Mistakes at MoneyWatch

   A little more homework needed on Social Security, please

   By Trudy Lieberman

   A recent CBS MoneyWatch piece titled “Social Insecurity” was one of those breezy, glib stories that seemed to telegraph important stuff, especially to the younger set, but actually typified the kind of shallow, incomplete coverage of Social Security we’ve seen in the last two years. That kind of reportage does a disservice to audiences and leaves them with misleading information....

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8. November 29, 2011 11:55 AM

   Switching Sides on Social Security

   Look who’s getting rid of the payroll tax

   By Trudy Lieberman

   What to do about those FICA contributions, aka payroll taxes, now that the supercommittee has blown up? Last Christmas the Obama administration handed workers a special gift—a one-year holiday from paying their payroll taxes, which as most workers know fund their Social Security retirement benefits and disability and survivor’s benefits, should they need them later on. The year is up....

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9. April 2, 2012 11:46 AM

   The Case of the Disappearing Benefits Statements

   A good piece from the Los Angeles Times

   By Trudy Lieberman

   Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik deserves a shout-out for his strong piece on how the government is keeping Americans in the dark about their Social Security benefits. Hiltzik, who has been chronicling the politics of Social Security for a while, found a fresh angle on the now-familiar narrative of “Social Security causes deficit.” He reported on the disappearance of...

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10. October 21, 2011 01:50 PM

    The Human Faces behind the Social Security Rhetoric

    Good work from CBS News

    By Trudy Lieberman

    Finally, a mainstream media outlet has broken through the dominant narrative about Social Security and showed what the program means in dollars and cents to the fifty-five million people who rely on its monthly checks. You would never know that Social Security had any connection to real human beings from the media’s emphasis on gigantic numbers and political scaremongering about...

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11. December 23, 2011 01:44 PM

    The Kind of Medicare Story We’d Rather Not See

    SmartMoney runs a lackluster listicle

    By Trudy Lieberman

    Anyone reading SmartMoney’s take on Medicare would want to get granny off the program in New York minute. It was one of those “list” stories—five places you must visit, ten foods to eat in the new year that grab reader attention. But “list” stories that purport to do more than simply name a national park or suggest you eat Iberico...

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12. December 6, 2011 04:21 PM

    The Murky Politics of the Payroll Tax

    The media begin to step in the muck

    By Trudy Lieberman

    Each day the payroll tax saga gets more complicated, and the public no doubt gets more confused. Bloomberg reporter Brian Faler and Remapping Debate’s Mike Alberti deserve loud shout-outs for their crisp and clear pieces this week about what could happen to Social Security if Obama and his allies win another tax holiday, touted as a way to restore America’s...

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13. February 20, 2012 01:41 PM

    Words of Warning on the Payroll Tax

    The media ponders the wisdom behind the tax holiday's extension

    By Trudy Lieberman

    Last week, Congress voted to extend the payroll tax holiday through the end of 2012. Social Security supporters have argued that a tax holiday may not be such a hot idea, and could jeopardize the program’s future by changing its revenue stream and eventually making it compete with other programs for general revenues. Alarm bells rang at the end of...

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