The Oil Drum: When is News Not Really News?

The ABC news tonight began with a story on the rising price of gasoline. But when I scan the headlines of the papers, the fact that we hit $66plus today is barely mentioned, And in the ABC piece, the villain seemed to be the oil companies, with nary a mention of the possibility of there being an imbalance between supply and demand. We talk about the public awareness of this problem among ourselves, and yet the perception we have is not getting through to the media. Earlier this week I complained about…

the opinion of a British politician – but, with the exception of the occasional Congressman or MP, almost none of them are realistically aware of the rising problem.

But, to be almost fatalistic about this, very few people are. There is, as yet, very little public knowledge of the evidence, apart from the price rise, of the underlying problems that this, and other sites, are now bringing to the fore. Sure there is media coverage of the truckers protest in Florida – and other media-genic events, but almost none of the reporters than I have seen or read, goes to the underlying cause of the problem that is now starting to come to pass. Those that comment are often not that well informed (see this comment from an economics prof who has some knowledge).

But, that wasn’t what I wanted to talk about. Because as I look at the price of oil, and the market explanation as why it is there, I have to demur.

Much more after the jump at The Oil Drum.