Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

The answer seems to be yes. In a recent study conducted by the Business and Media Institute, it found that ABC (NYSE: DIS), NBC (NYSE: GE) and CBS (NYSE: CBS-A) on a consistent basis ""hyped similarities to the Great Depression."

It actually makes business reporters look ignorant about history, that they don't do their homework and have a private agenda for doing this type of reporting.

First of all, we're not even close to being in a recession, let alone a depression. The term recession has an easily understood definition that has been used for decades: two straight quarters of negative economic growth. It's as simple as that.

The reality is we haven't even had one quarter of negative economic growth, let alone two; or the possibility of a depression.

As John Stossel points out in an excellent article concerning irresponsible economic reporting, "We are not in a depression. We are not even in recession. Get a grip, guys. We ought to point out that whatever today's problems bring, we are far away from reliving the Depression."

The study suggested three things reporters could do to be more balanced and reflect true economic realities:

Avoid Shallow Sound-Bite Reporting on the Economy

Find a Middle Ground (present both sides of story)

Learn – and Report – History

The historical suggestion is especially important, as many reporters flippantly throw around the idea that the conditions today are very similar to those during the depression times. That comment itself underscores their lack of historical understanding or knowledge of what really went on then. They're just repeating sound bites they've heard somewhere else.

One example is the unemployment figures during the two time periods. In the time of the depression, unemployment reached over 23 percent, while today it stands at a fairly healthy 5 percent.

According to the report, the worst network was CBS for hyping the negative. Maybe this is the reason they're such a poorly watched news show. People can only take so much negative before they turn the channel, or get their news on another platform.

So when we take in our business data, we need to understand the weaknesses of the networks and their reporters concerning the stories they tell. We surely can't make decisions based upon the majority of them, unless our own private data confirm the assertions of an economic story.

In the end, today's economic reporting is thriving on hype, historical inaccuracies and one-sided reporting. We need to interact with it as such, if at all.

Full Report