Friday Edition: Media in Denial
Plus: Americans refuse to quit their food delivery services.
Bubba
09 Aug
Kevin Durant gave a Bubba News-approved quote after USA Basketball advanced to the gold medal game in the Paris Olympics.
1. Media In Denial
Stories about racial tensions in America, like those involving George Floyd and Central Park bird watcher Christian Cooper, grab tons of headlines. But what about research that paints race relations in a positive light? (The American Saga)
A recent study by University of Oxford researcher Sanne van Oosten: A meta-analysis of over 40 studies found that being a minority doesn't negatively impact political candidates with voters.
What van Oosten told journalist Zaid Jilani: “Voters aren’t negative — in some cases [are] even positive about women, about Asian candidates, and think the same about black candidates as they do about white candidates. It’s actually quite positive.”
The latest: Van Oosten has had little to no luck getting reporters to cover the results of her analysis, with one journalist telling her, “people aren’t interested in good news.”
One research paper that analyzed 27 million articles published by U.S. based publications between 1970 and 2019 found: “The frequency of words that denote specific prejudice types related to ethnicity, gender, sexual, and religious orientation has markedly increased within the 2010–2019 decade across most news media outlets. This phenomenon starts prior to, but appears to accelerate after, 2015.
The trend: Despite consistent signs of racial progress over the last decade and beyond, perceptions of race relations over the same time period have plummeted.
Two cents from Jilani:
It should hardly be surprising that Americans think they live in a massively racist and sexist country if you can hardly open the newspaper without being bombarded with a story about how a lady in Central Park getting into a verbal altercation about dog walking is an indictment of all-pervasive American racism. …
If we want people to believe that the world isn’t quite as bad as we imagine it, we have to be willing to publish the truth, even when it’s positive.
2. When You Just Can’t Quit Uber Eats
Americans have started to cut down on their consumer spending, but many of them can't resist the convenience of delivery services. (Business Insider)
New Q2 data: The number of first-time customers on Uber Eats was the highest in the past 5 quarters.
Instacart saw a 10% increase in transaction value, with an average order value of $106, the highest in about three years.
DoorDash total orders rose by 19%.
These numbers are up despite a hefty premium: Some Instacart customers pay nearly $100 more in markups compared to buying groceries at the supermarket.
Big picture: Multiple surveys have found that, thanks to inflation, even high-earning Americans are feeling a pinch to their wallets.
Two-thirds of Americans feel they’re living paycheck to paycheck, including nearly half of those making $100,000+ per year, according to a MarketWatch survey from May.
Bubba’s Two Cents
Americans generally aren’t too satisfied with the economy, and there’s a reasonable case that they’re right to feel that way. So, I’m not at all suggesting people who are having a hard time financially are struggling because they’re spending on luxuries. On the other hand, I think we should acknowledge there’s “broke” broke and there’s “broke because I’m ordering a private car for my $20 cupcake” broke.
3. How Popular Is Economic Populism?
Populists like Sen. J.D. Vance, the Ohio Republican, position themselves as champions of the people, but according to one new survey, the people may not be on board with some key aspects of their economic program. (Cato at Liberty)
Chart: Cato at Liberty
Where Vance stands: Last week in Nevada, the VP nominee didn’t mince words while blasting free trade and globalization.
“We believe that a million cheap knockoff toasters aren’t worth the price of a single American manufacturing job,” he told a crowd of supporters.
A new Cato Institute/YouGov survey: A majority of Americans (63%) say we should increase trade with other countries.
75% are concerned that tariffs raise consumer prices.
66% oppose paying $10 more for blue jeans due to tariffs.
80% think more American factory jobs would benefit the country, but only 25% want to work in a factory.
On the other hand: Other polls have shown Americans are divided on their support for tariffs and prefer Donald Trump’s approach to trade over President Biden’s.
Also, some policies associated with economic populism — such as boosting the minimum wage and government funded pro-family programs — are broadly popular.
4. Check Out the Dems’ “Boring” New Logo
Here are two takes on the Harris-Walz campaign’s new logo, which some critics have dubbed “boring.” (Fast Company)
Patrick Ruffini, a GOP pollster, said the new logo reflected the “decline of Democratic campaign branding.”
Hunter Schwarz, who covers the intersection of politics and design and publishes the newsletter Yello, told Bubba News that Harris’ branding suggests she’s not “centering her gender” in her campaign the same way Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
The logo is intentionally simple. Going back through the Obama, Clinton, and Biden campaigns, Democratic presidential brands for the past four cycles have all taken a single letter and turned it into either a logo (the Obama O and Hillary H logos) or a visual accent (the red flag E in Biden). Harris isn’t doing any of that, it’s just a wordmark.
The choice of a tall sans-serif font for “Harris” is a callback to the style of the tall font she used in her 2020 campaign branding, which itself was an homage to lettering from Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 campaign. So you end up with this subtle homage to Harris potentially being the first female president, but it’s done in a very low-key way.
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