Imagine news correspondents hail­ing the impact of the first atomic bomb for clearing the way for Hiroshima’s future growth. That comparison, while ex­treme, conveys much of the flavor of recent mainstream news coverage of the Chrysler shutdown in Kenosha, Wiscon­sin. The closing, which terminated over 5,000 jobs just four days before last Christmas, occurred despite firm written and oral pledges by Chrysler that the corporation intended to maintain pro­duction in Kenosha for at least five years.

The impact of such a massive shut­down on a factory town of 77,000— measured in sharply reduced opportuni­ties for workers and their families, coupled with domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and other indices of de­spair—should have generated exten­sive media discussion. But the largest plant closing in Wisconsin history prompted little debate of major policy issues, such as how to exert public control over the conduct of multina­tional corporations like Chrysler, which have shifted jobs around the globe in search of the highest possible profit.

Instead of a serious assessment of the shutdown, media reflected a “don’t worry be happy” approach, emphasiz­ing adjustment strategies rather than fun­damental questions about corporate power. Implicit is the assumption that Kenosha will somehow be immune to the devastation experienced in other me­dium-sized factory towns affected by major shutdowns. Here’s a sampling of up-beat themes which have dominated coverage.

Welcome Chance for Diversi­fication. Two days after the shutdown was announced, Neu> York Times re­porter John Holusha (1-29-88) ex­plained the basis for the positive feelings voiced by some local corporate and gov­ernment officials. In their eyes, the $ 14 an hour average pay at Chrysler “disrupted economic growth” by establishing a high wage standard, thereby allegedly discour­aging other investment. The loss of 5500 family-supporting jobs is thus a welcome development—a conclusion that the Times did not balance with Quotes from

local union or community leaders. The opportunities for diversification—a dog-racing track, a new lakefront marina, and the expansion of shopping malls along I-94—are certain to provide jobs that offer only a fraction of the wages that Chrysler provided.

“Relief and Optimism.” On the day

after the closing, the New York Times’ Doron P. Levin described the shutdown as “occasion for surprising expressions of relief and optimism in this industrial city on Lake Michigan” (12-22-88). The article included a photo of a presumably once-employed worker with the caption, “I hated my job,” and also quoted Ke­nosha Mayor Patrick Moran claiming,

Lee lacocca

“Generally, I don’t think the town’s too upset.” This account of the community mood neglected to mention a September 22 meeting where Moran had to leave under heavy police escort because 2,000 autoworkers furiously objected to his un­willingness to sue Chrysler for breach of contract.

Community Control or Remote Control by Chrysler? Levin’s article in the Times seemed to portray the shutdown, not as an example of public vulnerability to unrestrained corporate power, but as an opportunity for self-determination. Quoting a local development official, a large sub-head states, “After years of boom and bust, ‘the community has taken control.’” An alternative explanation—that it signaled the community’s lack of control and powerlessness in the face of Lee lacocca and Chrysler—was not voiced by any of the sources Levin chose to auote.

Freedom to Redirect Resources.

A public TV show called “Smith and Company” devoted a three-part series (WMVS and WMVT Milwaukee, Dec. 19-21, 1988) to “some of the positive as­pects of the plant closing,” such as “the freedom to direct resources and energies to other areas of potential growth.” However the source of such resources— at a time when Kenosha will suffer an annual payroll loss of about $ 171 million, along with $208 million in a combination of lost tax revenues and new tax outlays caused by the shutdown—is not sug­gested. While there will be a trickle of re­sources from the reparations package of $4 to $ 10 million (but widely misreported as $250 million) provided by Chrysler, it will hardly fill the massive crater left by Chrysler’s decision to end auto pro­duction in Kenosha.

Rebirth as a “Paradise.” Chrys­ler’s plan to demolish some factory buildings and create a grassy park (which could serve as a land bank for future commercial opportunities) un­leashed a torrent of enthusiasm in the Milwaukee Journal (2-5-89). “Plant razing signals rebirth” blared the head­line, while the article opened, “In Kenosha they’ll pave over a plant and put up paradise.” The Chrysler-planned “paradise” was contrasted with the exist­ing “rodent-ridden buildings.” The fact that those buildings provided weekly sus­tenance to 5,500 families seemed to be of little consequence to the Journal.

The social consequences of the plant
shutdown in Kenosha were minimized in
mainstream media coverage. A commu­
nity-wide disaster has been treated as a
minor and momentary barrier to the
affluence that lies just over the horizon in
a new, diversified local economy based on
tourism, services, and retail trade. Con­
fronted with a blatant example of corpo­
rate malfeasance, journalists failed to
convey the real picture of impoverish­
ment that results when a factory town
loses its largest and highest paying em­
ployer.                                                    D

Roger Bybee is the editor of Racine Labor.

---