The triumph of ‘wealth porn’

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


The mainstream media is so drunk on the so-called economic prosperity of the past five years that they gloss over issues of economic inequality and now unapologetically wax salaciously rhapsodic about wealth and the wealthy, according to an essay in the COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW.

Recent Must Reads

11/23 – Depleted uranium suit possible

11/22 – Thanks(giving) for nothing

11/21 – Shell wins greenwashing award

11/18 – Happy birthday, Seattle

As new money magazines pop up, mainstream news outlets struggle to compete — with bigger business and Wall Street sections and new technology fetishist inserts — rather than taking the opportunity to show the other side of ‘New Wealth’: New Poverty and its economic, social, and moral impact for millions on the wrong end of the boom.

Writes author Gary Andrew Poole: “America is doing well, thanks, and the press is reporting the phenomenon. But do we over-celebrate the New Wealth, giving the reader the impression that he’s the only one who isn’t loaded, or that being rich is all that matters? Are we analyzing the ramifications of the new prosperity?” To which we say, do you really have to ask?

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

payment methods

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate