This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
CHICAGO • Long ago in a faraway land called Post-Election East Coast, the major media companies published mea culpas about having overlooked "real people" with economic anxieties not reflected in aggregate national unemployment and GDP numbers. After incorrectly projecting that Hillary Clinton had the presidency in the bag, they vowed to do better reporting on communities in the so-called fly-over states and to not discount the views and circumstances of the people living there.
Unfortunately, the media never vowed to stop condescending to them.
Last week, in reference to Manitowoc Foodservice, a manufacturer whose Indiana factory is laying off 84 workers and moving production to Mexico, a New York Times article noted, "The truth across the Rust Belt is that there are more Manitowoc Foodservices than Carriers. ... In Indiana, in particular, as in other so-called Rust Belt states, there are a lot of people who are less educated: Just 16.5 percent of the state's residents ages 25 to 64 have a bachelor's degree, half the rate for the country over all. And while about 30 percent have an associate degree or some college, the bulk of Indiana residents, 44 percent, have only a high school diploma — or less."
This sort of reporting, while factual and impartial to most East Coast media types, is the kind of looking-down-your-nose journalism that working-class and rural people feel is elitist. This implication of rube-ishness through low educational attainment makes people living in what used to be referred to more positively as America's Heartland believe that the media do not tell the whole truth about them — or about anything else.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, writing recently in the op-ed pages of the Times, noted, "Start with this: When you call us the Rust Belt, you demean our work and diminish who we are. ... Ohio workers know they toil harder and are paid less than their parents, and have less power to control the hours they work and their share of the wealth they create for their employer. This diverse force feels betrayed by trade and tax policies that create immense affluence at the top and take wealth from workers. Much of Washington — and that now includes Donald J. Trump — doesn't seem to understand this."
Even though the election is barely in our rearview mirror, the same news agencies that vowed to "do better" continue to rely on overly broad interpretations of statistics and a detached attitude about working people in the middle of the country.
A Wall Street Journal blog post last week carried this headline: "1,000 Carrier Jobs Trump Celebrates Are Drop in the Bucket of Manufacturing Losses — Indiana alone has lost over 150,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000."
Though Indiana's manufacturing slide is often cited to add context to the Carrier deal — which may actually save only about 800 jobs in Indiana through a tax deal that has drawn ire from both conservatives and liberals — its reference can come off as dismissive and cold.
In the grand scheme of things, 800 jobs may not be much to speak of when you look at national manufacturing trends. But to people in Indiana who feel as though the reality of having their family's livelihood snatched from them and sent down to Mexico was just halted by a benevolent savior, the bucket metaphor is belittling.
For people like T.J. Bray, a 14-year employee of Carrier, who is married and supporting his wife and two kids, there's no "drop" — it's his whole life.
"I was completely devastated," Bray told Fox News host Megyn Kelly about when he heard initially that he would lose his job. "This is the only adult job I've ever had. I've had this job since I was 18, so to have this ripped away from me with no warning or no red flags that anything was going on ... I was absolutely disgusted." He said that when he learned his job had been saved, "I was shocked and still am to this day. ... It seems like I'm a part of history that's being made right now with a president being able to put his foot down and being able to save some American jobs."
This sentiment may seem inconsequential coming from people who don't matter much by the present-day standards of celebrity and influence. But, for better or worse, working-class Americans with this worldview were just a part of presidential history.
If the media can't muster up true respect for such people, the least we can do is treat them, their issues and concerns with a measure of dignity and empathy.
Twitter, @estherjcepeda