Richard Nantel

Saturday mornings are highlights of my week. I stay in bed with a pot of tea, the newspaper, and my youngest daughter cuddled up next to me watching cartoons. (Gosh, I love this.) This past Saturday, I set aside the front and business sections of the paper because I’ve been making an attempt to lower my consumption of bad economic news. This news is demoralizing and anxiety-producing, and, with the exception of spending my money at the small local stores I like and want to have around in two years, there’s little I can do about the recession. (Yes, I can get bicycle tubes cheaper elsewhere, but I want my local bike shop to survive, so I pay the extra two bucks per tube there.)

So, tossing the front and business sections of the paper aside to be used to capture potato peelings for a dinner this week, I turned to the Life, Style, Travel, and Science and Technology sections for escape. Unfortunately, there are few places you can go to avoid economic news. Producers of news and commentary are framing almost all of their discussions of any topic around the economic downturn.

• The Globe and Mail’s wine columnist feels compelled to write that a certain Bordeaux is “a smart way to drink better, without drinking expensively, during the recession.”
• Style columnists speak of the return of thrift and second-hand clothing stores.
• Relationship columnists write about newly unemployed bankers discovering the joys of spending time with their families.
• Travel writers speak of inexpensive places to visit in the downturn or the joys of traveling virtually. No sun block required.
• Food writers are focusing on cheap meals made with Spam and other canned meats.

Newspapers aren’t the only ones to blame. Later Saturday morning, I listened to NPR’s “The Splendid Table,” which featured an interview with Jancis Robinson, a fabulous wine columnist. It took minutes before the host turned the discussion to “what wines should we drink during the recession?” Apparently, based on having come across the topics of wine and recessions twice in one day, it’s impossible to discuss wine without at least a passing mention to sub-prime mortgages and the global credit markets.

Is there anywhere a person can turn to avoid news of the economic downturn? I believe the incessant economic framing of discussions on any topic is making matters worse.

• It’s feeding a sense of panic.
• It’s hurting businesses by scaring people into not buying the items they may want and can afford.
• It’s making it impossible for people who have been hurt by the downturn, or who are worried about losing their jobs, to find any place to escape.

Let’s remember that the ratings of news sources such as CNN GO UP in bad times. They and others benefit by feeding us non-stop coverage of the recession.

The recession is being discussed in the learning community as well. Most are trying to assess whether the economic downturn hurts employee training, as companies cut training budgets, or whether the slowdown will drive greater adoption of cost-saving learning technologies. (Full disclosure:  I, too, have framed some recent blog posts on Workplace Learning Today around the economy.)

I’ve hit a saturation point on economic bad news. So here’s my pledge to you. I will not be framing my discussions of learning around the recession. Starting with my next post, I certify this blog to be 100 percent economic bad news free.