ABSTRACT
This chapter gives a long view of how economic, business and financial news reporting has changed since the 1970s. It argues that economic news content has become increasingly narrow and has come to be defined in extremely restrictive, elite and financialized terms. Economic news has moved away from discussing ‘the real economy’, as experienced by most people. The developments have been driven by changes in the way economic news is produced, as the traditional business model of news has broken down. Ultimately, this narrow focus not only contributed to the financial crisis of 2007–08 and the economic crisis that has followed, but also ensured the continuance of failed economic models that have left states and ordinary people bearing the costs of austerity. In turn, this has contributed to the Brexit vote and a wider public rejection of political and economic elites. Key examples are taken from the UK, but studies and trends are also drawn from the US, Europe and elsewhere.
