I know there were stories earlier in The Washington Post about the human toll of the recession, but it seems over the last few days, the paper has stepped up its coverage to go beyond financial statistics and political arguments. There are several that merit mention and a read, if you haven’t already.
Last Friday, Wil Haygood demonstrated how this economy—and our declining standard of living—impacts good people who’ve done all the right things, “A Storm in My Life” recounts how a college educated woman with a six-figure job as a nursing home executive loses her job and finds herself 18 months later with little left and dim prospects of recovering what was once the American dream.
Then yesterday, “Food banks swamped by demand” shows us more middle class people, not the chronically underemployed, are turning to charity, in what for many is a first. On the Metro page is a story about people about to be underemployed as wait staff at a new D.C. IHOP. Fourteen percent have college degrees.
The there is today’s heart wrenching story of the impact foreclosures have on children.
Even those retrained for “green jobs” can’t find work.
Maybe it’s because three of these human stories about the economy have been on the front page, this seems like a welcome shift in the reporting. Enough of political arguments. The Post is showing us the important stories. Kudos to the editors and writers at the newspaper.