On June 14, 2012, Arthur Delaney writes on the HuffingtnoPost.com that the phrase “job killer” is rarely substantiated when it appears in news stories, according to a study published Thursday morning.
The analysis, conducted by Peter Dreier of Occidental College and Christopher R. Martin of the University of Northern Iowa, examined every occurrence of the phrase or one of its variants, like “kill jobs” or “job-killing,” in articles by the Associated Press, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post going back to 1984. Of the 381 stories that contained the phrase — usually in a source’s quote — fewer than 10 percent substantiated it.
“The news media’s chronic lack of fact‐checking has only encouraged ramped up use of the ‘job killer’ allegation as a political strategy against the Democrats in recent years,” the study says.
