Net News—Old Wine in a New Bottle?

Economics instructors who use the news sparingly in their classrooms may find that news available on the Internet overcomes some problems that have limited the use of news.1 In a recent survey, teachers of undergraduate economics reported a mean usage of 22 percent (with a median of 22 percent) for the popular press as a source of assigned materials in introductory courses. This usage did not vary markedly for upper division or econometrics courses. The survey results for theory courses suggest more evangelical use-median usage was only 6 percent but a mean of 28 percent suggests the mean had been inflated by some intense users (Becker 1997; Becker and Watts 1996). For introductory courses, this evidence is corroborated by the type of textbook chosen by most instructors. Although McConnell and Brue (1996, xxi) argue that "capitalism in Russia, interest rate hikes, GATT, NAFTA, pollution rights, the balanced budget amendment" are illustrative of "a remarkable time for teaching and learning economics," their widely adopted textbook uses excerpts from current news sources in only a minor way. The authors discuss contemporary issues but most of the "Last Word" inserts illustrate specific economic principles or themes, and 35 of 40 are written by the authors. The reader is likely to encounter a humorous article, a biographical sketch, or some other noncurrent topic. Ancillary books and the Web site for the textbook are also noticeably devoid of news analysis. Presumably, instructors who use news would choose a textbook such as Parkin (1996) that uses news excerpts extensively because "a major goal of the principles course is to help students build critical thinking skills and use economic principles to interpret daily news events (and their coverage in the media)."2 Those who use newsclips are usually quick to extol their virtues, but little, if anything, has been written to explain why nonusers shun them. The explanation probably hinges on perceptions of their educational value, the time and effort needed to select suitable examples, and the costs of producing them. In this article, I address these issues and the use of the Internet for the selection and production of newsclips.