30,000 Americans to Lose Their Jobs. Fox - "Is that Such a Big Deal?"
Reported by Melanie - January 23, 2006
Today (January 23, 2006), six minutes into Fox's "premiere business news" program, Your World w/Neil Cavuto, Fox got around to reporting the biggest business news of the year: that the Ford Motor Company plans to layoff of as many as 30,000 workers and close 14 of its plants. (In contrast, the BBC led with this story.)
Neil Cavuto opened the segment with: "We've been hearing a couple of things about it...Ford Motor Company is slashing up to 30,000 jobs...shutting down 14 plants nationwide. American auto makers are trying to get in on the road to recovery...so what if the unthinkable happens and America never, ever gets its mojo back in motor vehicles? Is that such a big deal?"
Cavuto introduced Mark Gilles of Automobile magazine and Malcom Bricklin, the CEO of Visionary Vehicles. Cavuto turned to Gilles first and asked, "Mark, is it a big deal?"
Gilles said, "I think it's a huge deal." He said Ford is a "massive employer" and the jobs are "very high paying," unlike "the employees at Wal-Mart" or people who "flip burgers" at McDonalds.
Bricklin said, "It's a really sad day for America;" the car companies have "major restructuring to do."
Cavuto, Gilles, and Bricklin continued their discussion, Gilles lamenting the loss of high paying jobs and Bricklin reiterating that Ford will need to be "restructured from top to bottom."
Throughout the segment Fox ran a chyron: "What if the Auto Industry in America Fails?"
Comment: While there have been rumblings about the Ford layoffs for months, this truly is shocking news, especially when coupled with GM's problems. The fact that both Ford and General Motors are on the brink of failure is almost unthinkable. They represent the foundation of American enterprise. They are bedrock American companies and when they faltered in the 1970s, Republicans yelled: Buy American! Now, as I watch Fox News dismiss their impending collapse, I am appalled at how things have changed. Nothing is sacred anymore. Conservatives will do and say (and dismiss) anything, anything, to support George W. Bush.
