{"id":2533,"date":"2008-03-24T08:40:24","date_gmt":"2008-03-24T16:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533"},"modified":"2008-03-24T12:22:51","modified_gmt":"2008-03-24T20:22:51","slug":"memo-to-mainstream-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533","title":{"rendered":"Memo To Mainstream Media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies &#8211; yes, such accounts readily exist &#8211; from people who need these short-term loans? This evidence in support of payday loans, narratives from people of diverse economic backgrounds (additional memo to MSM: payday loans are a source of relief for individuals of all incomes), never seems to make it into articles from, say, the New York Times or Washington Post. The reason: the proverbial media establishment wants to destroy payday lending. Save that agenda for the editorial page. In the meantime, reporters need to uphold the standards of their profession &#8212; which means writing balanced pieces that respectfully offer data from the other side. And here&#8217;s another &quot;radical&quot; suggestion: newspapers should spend less time on this blatantly political cause, and focus their energy on some genuinely incompetent financial institutions. A crazy idea, I know.<\/p>\n<p><!--adsense--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162,20],"tags":[2843,2841,2844,2847,2840,2845,2846,29894,2850,2842,2727,2849,2839,2851,2848,1411],"class_list":["post-2533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-journalism","tag-crazy-idea","tag-economic-backgrounds","tag-financial-institutions","tag-incomes","tag-journalistic-objectivity","tag-mainstream-media","tag-narratives","tag-new-york-times","tag-newspapers","tag-payday-loans","tag-pretense","tag-profession","tag-short-term-loans","tag-suggestion","tag-testimonies","tag-washington-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.10 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies - yes, such accounts readily exist - from people who need\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Luke Ford\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"google-site-verification\" content=\"HMjuOfLRyzTPB-5Z5FG4BHkfZ1fbEij34rmbKM3BkZ4\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.10\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Luke Ford - No sacred cows.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies - yes, such accounts readily exist - from people who need\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-03-24T16:40:24+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-03-24T20:22:51+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lukecford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lukeford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies - yes, such accounts readily exist - from people who need\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lukeford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#blogposting\",\"name\":\"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford\",\"headline\":\"Memo To Mainstream Media\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#articleImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-03-24T08:40:24-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-03-24T12:22:51-08:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Economics, Journalism, crazy idea, economic backgrounds, financial institutions, incomes, journalistic objectivity, mainstream media, narratives, New York Times, newspapers, payday loans, pretense, profession, short term loans, suggestion, testimonies, washington post\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=20#listItem\",\"name\":\"Journalism\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=20#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Journalism\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=20\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#listItem\",\"name\":\"Memo To Mainstream Media\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Memo To Mainstream Media\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=20#listItem\",\"name\":\"Journalism\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#personImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533\",\"name\":\"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford\",\"description\":\"If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies - yes, such accounts readily exist - from people who need\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=2533#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-03-24T08:40:24-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-03-24T12:22:51-08:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"alternateName\":\"No Sacred Cows\",\"description\":\"No sacred cows.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford","description":"If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies - yes, such accounts readily exist - from people who need","canonical_url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"google-site-verification":"HMjuOfLRyzTPB-5Z5FG4BHkfZ1fbEij34rmbKM3BkZ4","miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#blogposting","name":"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford","headline":"Memo To Mainstream Media","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#articleImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"},"datePublished":"2008-03-24T08:40:24-08:00","dateModified":"2008-03-24T12:22:51-08:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#webpage"},"articleSection":"Economics, Journalism, crazy idea, economic backgrounds, financial institutions, incomes, journalistic objectivity, mainstream media, narratives, New York Times, newspapers, payday loans, pretense, profession, short term loans, suggestion, testimonies, washington post"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=20#listItem","name":"Journalism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=20#listItem","position":2,"name":"Journalism","item":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=20","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#listItem","name":"Memo To Mainstream Media"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#listItem","position":3,"name":"Memo To Mainstream Media","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=20#listItem","name":"Journalism"}}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person","name":"Luke Ford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#personImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1","name":"Luke Ford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#webpage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533","name":"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford","description":"If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies - yes, such accounts readily exist - from people who need","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"datePublished":"2008-03-24T08:40:24-08:00","dateModified":"2008-03-24T12:22:51-08:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/","name":"Luke Ford","alternateName":"No Sacred Cows","description":"No sacred cows.","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Luke Ford - No sacred cows.","og:type":"article","og:title":"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford","og:description":"If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies - yes, such accounts readily exist - from people who need","og:url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533","og:image":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg","og:image:width":800,"og:image:height":600,"article:published_time":"2008-03-24T16:40:24+00:00","article:modified_time":"2008-03-24T20:22:51+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lukecford","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@lukeford","twitter:title":"Memo To Mainstream Media - Luke Ford","twitter:description":"If you want to constantly attack payday loans, then abandon any pretense to journalistic objectivity. The articles recently published about this matter, all of them vilifying the practice of payday lending, fail even the most basic standards of decent reporting. Where are the testimonies - yes, such accounts readily exist - from people who need","twitter:creator":"@lukeford","twitter:image":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"2533","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2023-05-10 21:25:00","updated":"2025-06-04 13:55:16","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=20\" title=\"Journalism\">Journalism<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tMemo To Mainstream Media\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog"},{"label":"Journalism","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=20"},{"label":"Memo To Mainstream Media","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2533"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}