This was the recent headline in the Nashville Tennessean newspaper. Oh no, the sky is falling. Actually, that number puts Nashville solidly at 6.2% unemployment. So let’s see, that means that we have 93.8% of the people fully employed and going to work every day, or roughly 760,000 who still have jobs. Experts consider 5% unemployment “full employment” as there are always that many people transitioning or taking a break. So really we are up 1.2% or about 9700 more people looking for work than normal out of the 810,000 workers in this area. So why don’t the headlines scream that Nashville has 760,000 people who are getting regular paychecks each week? Because good news doesn’t sell newspapers.
Be careful how you receive the “news” being offered right now. You could get the impression that no one is hiring, all banks are failing, everyone is losing their home, and every small business is on the brink of disaster.
Incidentally we have a 99% chance of sunshine tomorrow and a 1% CHANCE OF HAIL, TORNADO, EARTHQUAKE, AND LOCUST ATTACK!
Tags: earthquake, jobless, nashville, news
Dan Miller's Blog 
February 4, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Dan, this is exactly what is wrong with the media today. Just as you said, bad news is what sells papers and air time. But then, I guess it boils all down to human nature (sin?). If we weren’t so ready to buy the bad news, the media would have to start reporting something else, right?
I took your advice months ago by not reading the newspaper or watching TV news first thing in the morning. In fact, I got out of that habit so much that I even rarely read my newspaper anymore! I really should cancel it entirely (but the wife likes the coupons).
February 4, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Joe — congratulations on weaning yourself from the morning bad news. There are much better ways to start the day. And yes, Joanne and I still get the Sunday paper — for the comics and the coupons.
February 5, 2009 at 1:54 am
I am glad that I’m not the only person who has noticed this newest doomsday trend of the media. I fell that 90 percent of the recession we are seeing right now is a direct result of the media. Thank you for stating the obvious for the herd.
February 5, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Dan, you’re right! It’s all perspective. I try to actively not listen to the news and instead listen to positive perspectives like The Dave Ramsey Show. Yes, things are not 100% rosy but they are very good overall. My husband lost a job in December (we found out at the end of December) and was hired in January, despite the recession. His old company was not doing well because they were too fat on the top as well as way too large but his new company is doing extremely well since they are leaner and a small business (about 200 employees).
I’ve decided not to participate in the recession. I am currently working on contacting local theatre companies in the Wichita area to re-start my sewing and alterations business. I sadly lost solid contacts at our old home (another state) but am convinced a little networking and a couple of months will begin to bring a small stream of income. I’m shooting for enough income to pay off our remaining $4000 Visa bill and my last two semesters of tuition so I can graduate with my degree in HRM this December.
Thanks for the encouragement through your blog and your podcast!
~Jen
February 5, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Dan,
After I began reading 48 Days in October, I turned off the TV and have been plugged into my iPod. My husband & I get most of our news from many online sources. After scanning the headlines and reading a few stories, I turn to blogs like yours, Tom Ziglar’s and Seth Godin’s for positive, challenging perspective. (Seth Godin chooses his words so carefully, I must use the dictionary at least once a week to make sure I understand the usage, so his posts also improve vocabulary! In this day of “dumbed down” media, how many sources can we find to do that?)
I hadn’t even realized how long it had been since I used the TV, until it took me a few seconds to remember how to use the DVR remote to turn on the Super Bowl game on Sunday. Now, as I look back, I find that during this time, I have read more than 10 books, (including 48 Days & No More Mondays); books by Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, Seth Godin, Elizabeth Warren, Rick Warren and others. I have completed the Ziglar Strategies for Success series, “read” 20 audiobooks and listened to every 48 Days podcast back thru April 2007. And, I have seven more books lined up to read!
Connecting with these works has impacted me in a much more positive way than if I’d spent the past months wringing my hands, focused on the daily doomsday reports. At the end of each day, I have positive inspiring ideas and stories to pass along to my family.
Thank you, Dan, for your continued insistence that opportunities are all around us and for being a source that we can count on for positive thinking and ideas.
February 6, 2009 at 11:38 am
Dan, I agree with you 100%!
Over 20 years ago I stumbled upon an audio cassette tape of Zig Ziglar and he changed my thinking forever. I started Auto U immediately after listening to his cassette tape and still look forward to the time in my automobile. Hundreds of books [audio and print] later [and now podcasts], I can say I do not miss listening to the news and the negativity that goes with it.
The change in thinking led me to a tremendous career that I thank God for daily! Proverbs 3:5-6
February 6, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Yeah Dan! I wish we could stand on the street corner and shout that the sky is not falling. So many people are fearful but don’t stop to look at how many people are doing fine. Unfortunately when the political leaders say we are going to have a ‘catastrophe’ on our hands, the masses believe them.
February 6, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I agree the negative news media is a big part of our country’s problem.
We spent a week in Kentucky without electric, cable or internet. It was
the best week of my life recently. All around me, I saw people working and people helping other.