U.S./British Press Bias--"Who Me?"

Jeff Jarvis tracks three versions of the same story--the Labor Department's recent release of January's economics data. Jarvis quotes from the February 6th articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times. And I'm shocked, shocked to find two contradictory versions of a single set of numbers.

The WSJ and the WaPo got it basically right--unemployment falls again, though not as much as expected. Here's the beginning of the WaPo version, credited to an AP writer:

The nation's unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent in January to the lowest level in more than two years as companies added 112,000 new jobs, providing fresh signs the prolonged hiring slump may be ending. The jobless rate fell 0.1 percentage point last month to the lowest level since October 2001, when it was 5.4 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. January's rate matched the 5.6 percent posted in January 2002. Employers added new jobs last month at a pace not seen in three years.

But the Times story--credited to the British Reuters newswire--is quite different:

The U.S. economy created 112,000 new jobs in January, far fewer than expected, government data showed on Friday in a disappointing report that will likely weigh on President Bush's re-election campaign. The report showed hiring remains weak 26 months after the economy climbed out of recession, even though January's gain was the fifth straight monthly increase in payrolls outside the farm sector and the largest rise since December 2000.

Notice that neither Reuters nor the NYT could entirely suppress the truth poking out of the second sentence. But Reuters and the Times are relentless--the rest of the story is bleak:

The weak labor market is expected to be a major issue in the presidential election. Since Bush took office, 2.2 million jobs have been lost and his opponents say his economic policies have helped the wealthy and done little to create jobs.

One government news release; two stories--one factual, the other pure anti-Bush spin. Maybe it's not America that's divided, just the press.

New Yorkers: cancel your NYT subscription! You have nothing to lose but your chains.