Lessons from the crash: Media and the 2008 financial crisis

A decade on from the 2008 global financial crisis. Plus, Twitter bots manipulate online debates on Iran.

Lessons from the crash: Media and the 2008 crisis

Exactly a decade ago, the world was hit by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Trillions of dollars were sucked out of the global economy, tens of millions of people lost their jobs and austerity economics was imposed across numerous countries.

Here at the Listening Post, we reported back then on the failings of the financial coverage - failings that meant the crash came as a huge surprise to many around the world. The financial press cheered on a bubble that eventually burst, showed a lack of scepticism about Wall Street claims and failed to expose what was in effect mass fraud on their own beat, namely the mis-selling of mortgages to millions of Americans.