The issue is based on an index of 47,656 CBC and 36,640 CTV words and 5,852 CBC and 4,968 CTV stories from the nightly national newscasts of 1992. For analytical purposes, the rankings of personalities and places have been compared to rankings from 1991. In 1990, CBC uncritically accepted the government's position that without the Meech Lake agreement, the country would be doomed. Although the recession officially ended in 1991, both networks increased their coverage of the economy from sixth to second place. The importance which CBC and CTV placed on economic issues corresponds to the importance placed upon it by the Canadian public.
Economic news provides a unique opportunity for reporters to focus on the negative.
Regardless of what point the Canadian economy is on the business cycle, the media always have fodder for a bad news story. Recovery has been under way slowly but surely since January 1992 but few Canadians are aware of this fact. The On Balance study on economic reporting found that television focuses on the negative economic indicators and events at the expense of the indicators and events which show a definite improvement in Canada's economy. The study also found that coverage on the economy is inversely related to how well the economy is performing. Coverage increases when the economy is performing badly and decreases when the economy is healthy.