Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
News media perception, the nation's labor market and major league baseball's top divisions
In today’s newsletter, I discuss the perception of news media, the nation’s labor market and major league baseball’s top divisions.
MEDIA: News Media Perception
Notably, it is the content provider, not the news item itself, that colored perception most, according to this report.
Specifically, news consumers rated a news source more highly if it was politically sympathetic to their views rather than adversarial with them.
Pink's Bottom Line
However, the actual overall news diet was only slightly partisan — with 36% of consumption from politically sympathetic sources, 31% from adversarial sources and 33% from neutral ones.
While the country remains polarized politically, news consumers appear to be choosing a wider diet of news sources than might have been initially expected.
Still, it appears that the trust in politically sympathetic news sources carries the most credibility for those consumers.
MONEY: Initial Jobless Claims
Initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since the pandemic began, according to a government report released earlier today.
Americans filed 406,000 initial jobless claims in the latest week, compared to 444,000 a week ago.
For some context, before the pandemic began, initial jobless claims hovered around the 250,000 level per week and they were 1.8 million the same week a year ago.
Pink's Bottom Line
This week’s initial jobless claims numbers are an encouraging sign for the overall job market and for the economy as a whole.
If those claims numbers keep improving, that bodes well for the overall economic recovery.
Additionally, the government releases its monthly unemployment report a week from tomorrow — that report will be key to understanding the overall health of the nation’s labor market.
SPORTS: Top Divisions in Baseball
In the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees all have some of the best records in the league and they are all vying for the division lead.
It’s the same story in the NL West where the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers are all battling for the top spot in the division.
Pink's Bottom Line
Before the season began, the Yankees and the Dodgers were the favorites to meet in the World Series.
That said, expect both the Yankees and Dodgers to face stiff competition in their respective divisions for the rest of the season though I still do expect both teams to win their league pennants.
Jeremy Pink is currently COO of Geniecast, a leading virtual content and experience company. He is the former CEO of private-equity backed Broadcast Sports International where he helped lead the company to a successful sale and exit during his tenure there. He is also a former CNBC television executive in New York, London and Singapore.
The information contained in this communication is strictly for general informational and entertainment purposes and is not meant to be construed as financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. This communication is not a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. I am not a financial advisor or offering professional advice of any kind. Users should not act upon the content or information found within this communication without first seeking professional advice appropriate for their individual situation. Decisions based on information contained in this communication are the sole responsibility of the user, and use of this communication and its contents constitutes an explicit understanding and acceptance of the foregoing disclaimers.
(Newsletter Editor: Karina Pink)