By Mike King
Last week's news that the UK economy has been performing better than previously thought doesn’t come as much of a surprise (it turns out that growth in Q4 2009 wasn’t 0.1% as previously reported but was actually 0.3%). Not massive growth, but confirmation that the UK came out of recession in Q4 2009. Interesting when you look at how the media has been reporting the UK’s progress, or supposed lack of it, over the past few months.
For a while now it has been clear that the media’s reporting of the UK economy has been out of synch with reality. Record debt levels, the weak pound and a lack of clarity on how the government intends to reduce unprecedented levels of national debt have, understandably, all been dominating coverage. However, what’s been missing is the over-riding feeling of optimism that now exists as things have been improving.
From anecdotal evidence it is clear that the UK economy is in recovery. On a personal level, I’ve seen a massive change in attitudes and outlook since the end of last year with new clients, new business enquiries and a real feeling that business is gradually getting back to normal. Discussions with friends and peers confirm that this is the case across many different sectors. Everyone I’ve spoken with seems to be in the same boat – not boom times, but a steady improvement that has been underway for a good few months now.
But, the media’s love of a negative story has driven a bad news fixation and an almost Pavlovian response to any mention of the UK economy; UK economy = doom and gloom.
Of course, sections of the media have long operated this way with the attitude ‘why let reality get in the way of a good story?’ What will be interesting is how much longer this style of reporting can continue.
As social media grows in use and sophistication it will, eventually, provide an accurate way to measure real-world sentiment on a massive scale. Although plenty of tools already exist to supposedly measure sentiment on social networks they are in their infancy and, in my experience, not yet that effective. However, as this area improves, as it certainly will, media reporting that is so out of touch with reality will be clearly seen for what it is.
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