NPR drills down

Falling oil prices are a boon for the common run of mankind. As Steve Hayward notes, however, “environmentalists are all upset about falling oil prices.” As a result, the mainstream media will be searching for stories seeking to convey the dark side of falling energy prices.

NPR has now conducted its initial exploration in this vein, drilling down a little too deeply to turn it into a seasonal story. The story precisely illustrates Steve’s thesis, and more!

A reader writes:

[Over the weekend] NPR broadcast a story about countries feeling the pain of low oil prices. Someone caught the obvious error that the low price of oil was likely to affect Christmas shopping in Iran.

The story begins: “Imagine if you’re sitting back one evening, planning your holiday shopping list, knowing that every day you wait to shop, your money will be worth less.”

The audio says: “That’s what’s happening in places like Russia, Iran, Venezuela and other nations that rely heavily on oil exports and global energy prices.”

The revised transcript says: “That’s what’s happening in places like Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria and other nations that rely heavily on oil exports.”

The whole story with transcript and non-matching audio is here.

This really warrants a listen with your own ears. The audio is below. I feel their pain!

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