Got Milk?
Cable News and Inflation Hysteria
In the late 1990’s I worked as a media planner on the Got Milk? print campaign at an ad agency in New York City. This means that I (and a team of other colleagues) decided what milk ads went into what magazines. It was my first real job, and as far as first jobs go, it was a pretty cool one (minus the paltry pay). I thought of this two-year stint in my job history yesterday because milk—yes—plain old milk was trending on Twitter and getting almost as much attention as it did during the ‘90s.
A short segment on CNN featured an interview with a family of eleven from Cannondale, Texas, complaining about the increase in the price of milk over the past year and how it adversely affected their budget. It seemed like a harmless segment but it really was an attempt to sensationalize inflation, a GOP talking point, and about how rapidly rising costs were effecting the “average” American family.
There were two things that got the attention of the ENTIRE Twitterverse. First, the family claimed to purchase 12 gallons of milk a week. (Ok sure. Everything is bigger in Texas, right? Live and let live. But damn.) Second, was this quote: “A gallon of milk was $1.99. Now it's $2.79. When you buy 12 gallons a week times four weeks, that's a lot of money." The family, without any interjection from CNN, was claiming that a gallon of milk has increased by 40% since June, when according to easily accessible data it has only increased by 2.16% since January and only an average of one cent since June. That’s when everyone attacked. Since milk is a subsidized commodity, its pricing is tracked by the U.S. Government. Many pointed out that a gallon of milk hasn’t cost $1.99 since, well the ‘90s when I worked at that ad agency. Receipts were brought, charts were posted.
I have no doubt that this family is struggling—they have nine kids for crying out loud. On the other hand, many have pointed out that nine kids equate to a monthly child tax credit check that should more than compensate for the increased price of groceries and other goods. No one is denying that supply chain issues have caused prices to go up all over the world (not just in Biden’s United States) or that Covid has had adverse effects on family’s like this one, none of which was included in the piece.
The problem is, the subtext here was clearly political and the aim of CNN seemed to be to create and then sensationalize a problem that doesn’t exist, at least on the levels that they purport. Because of Biden and the Democrats, families can barely drink milk (let alone 96 glasses a week…). They chose a family that was far from average-sized, offered them up without context, from a state that sparks debate and divisiveness to say the least.
What do I wish CNN had done differently? For starters, they could have researched the price of a gallon of milk. Beyond that, because they chose a family of 11, they could have talked about the impact of the child tax credit payments. Nine children equate to a monthly check of $2,250, assuming all kids are over six and under 18. If any children are under six, the payment would increase by $50 per. As I watched that mother go into a grocery store with her huge family trailed by CNN cameras, I thought, “Wow, did she have to home school during covid? Did she, like me and many other women, lose her job during the pandemic?” Those would all be valid and relatable reasons to report on how even the smallest price hikes affect a family’s budget.
Beyond all of these reporting basics, the segment could have focused a bit on how poorly America continues to treat middle and working-class families due to stagnant wages, aggravated by an embarrassingly inadequate pandemic response and social infrastructure system. According to a Pew Research study, “after adjusting for inflation….today’s average hourly wage has just about the same purchasing power it did in 1978.” I wonder how an increased minimum wage, paid parental leave, affordable child care so parents can afford to work, and a universal health care system (including dental) that doesn’t leave us stressed and sleepless at the first sniffle or toothache, would change this large family’s life? Sure, there are supply chain issues driving up prices worldwide, but these kitchen table problems predate the pandemic by decades.
This isn’t just a CNN thing, but I did stop watching cable news in 2016 because of stories like this. The vacuum created by the 24-hour news cycle made everything an ALERT or BREAKING! The proliferation of cable news networks and the outrageousness of the Trump era created a ratings war that resulted in a plethora of bad news decisions—remember when they all followed candidate Trump around on the opening day of his DC hotel because he had an announcement to make? Not caring that the annoncement was that he was opening a hotel?* Remember when Mika and Joe would talk (giggle) with candidate Trump on the phone for hours during the their morning show, a practice usually frowned upon by most serious journalists? Remember when every cable news channel filmed an empty podium as they breathlessly waited from Trump to show up at a rally instead of airing speaches by both Hillary Clinton aned Bernie Sanders that same evening? Lastly, had CNN focused on real issues instead of sensationalized ones, it would have given the next segment with Trump tax cut-backer and “entitlement” foe, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, real context. Alas, context doesn't attract viewers like splashy chyrons and crisis banners do.
*Actually, his aired live announcement (after leading reporters all over his newly opened hotel), was a declaration that Barack Obama was a citizen of the United States after all and that Hillary, not him, had started the lie and birtherism movement. 2024!