Why does the economy sound bad, on paper?

BizzyBlog chronicles something that's blisteringly obvious, the bias seen in journalists reporting on the economy. He posts an article he wrote in 2000, chronicling the evolution of business journalism from businessmen reporting on business to liberal journalists without business backgrounds doing the reporting.

I wasn't paying any attention to the news back in the early 80's, but his analysis is solid. I'd like to throw out one opposing point for consideration: economic news is reported like all news, when it is news.

While the economy is remarkably better than it was in 1979, the news is how it has changed recently. Tell someone in 1989 that the Dow Jones Industrial Average will be hovering around 10,000 today, and they would consider that incredible news! However, it's reported as a sign of a struggling economy, since it's worse than in recent years. Consumer confidence is down, compared to people spending according to their inflated stock market holdings. The unemployment rating, though improved, is still higher than that at the peak of the bubble economy.

Now, the next Democrat president will be the test. We probably won't see the highs of a bubble economy nor the lows of Carter-esque malaise, so let's see if the economy is reported on in a consistent manner.