Recently, the New York Times ran an entire, stand-alone, special section entitled “Wealth.” The section focused on how the rich can become richer; through smart investment strategies, retirement savings and avoiding looming tax increases (for the wealthy). That the Times will devote an entire section to the topic of wealth, while significantly under-reporting poverty-related issues, is extremely disappointing, if not surprising.

Clearly, the Times finds it more important, and newsworthy, to run stories on 401K investment strategies and the wealthiest Americans rather than the poorest, who by the way, often do not have enough food to eat. When was the last time the Times ran a story on the poorest Americans, the hungry or the homeless? Here are the facts: 50 million people in America are struggling against hunger, including 1 in 5 children. From reading the Times alone, you would think 1 in 5 children in America have a trust fund.

The systematic omissions and misrepresentations by the Times when it comes to poverty-related issues are indicative of a culture that seems to believe that by ignoring a problem, it will simply disappear. In fact, we must accurately report on the condition of poverty in America if we hope to improve it.

I have written the Times to complain on numerous occasions, and as recently as last week, citing these omissions and misrepresentations. I rarely get a response, and, when I do, it’s generally perfunctory.

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