Despite the strong interest, few newspapers ran the story, or even a “refer,” on front pages about the Oct. 19 announcement out of Washington that financially squeezed Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will see a higher-than- expected 3.6 percent benefits increase in 2012.
The cost of living adjustment (COLA) will mark the first increase since 2009.
For some recipients on tight budgets, that means they can resume newspaper subscriptions.
The pay boost also indicated inflation wasn’t so “tame” after all.
The increase came in above the 1.2 percent projected by Social Security trustees in March. They also predicted that the Medicare Part B premium deducted from the payout would jump to $113.80 per month beginning in January (a figure up from $96.40 per month in 2011, unchanged since 2008).
As it turned out, Medicare’s basic monthly premium will be $99.90 per month for 2012, leaving more than earlier-projected figures in the pockets of Social Security recipients. With a monthly Social Security payment of $1,100, for example, the 2012 boost amounts to about $40 a month.
How important are the monthly payouts? Most retirees rely on Social Security payments for 90 percent of their income, according to the Social Security Administration. Some editors, fuzzy on the significance, bypassed front-page placement of the story.
The Social Security COLA is based on increases in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Officials compare inflation in the third quarter of each year with the same prior-year period.
Of interest to all newspaper readers, retired or not, was another change: With the new year, the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax will increase to $110,100 from $106,800. The Social Security Administration estimated about 10 million workers will be affected by that adjustment.
Yet, with these numbers affecting a good chunk of the population, an extensive survey of U.S. newspapers by GrumpyEditor.com found few dailies on Oct. 20 placed the Social Security COLA story on their front page.
Among those that did:
The Washington Times ran it as one of five front-page stories.
The News Journal, Wilmington, Del., had it as one of four front-page pieces.
The Garden Island, Lihue, Hawaii, made it one of four front-page stories.
Others that ran the announcement as a front-page, one-sentence refer included:
The New York Times
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
San Francisco Chronicle
Austin American-Statesman
The Salt Lake Tribune
Among key dailies that skipped any front-page mention:
Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Denver Post, Hartford Courant, Washington Post, The Miami Herald, Tampa Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, The Indianapolis Star, South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, The Des Moines Register, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, The Detroit News, Star Tribune (Indianapolis), Kansas City Star, Omaha World-Herald, The Star- Ledger (Newark), Albuquerque Journal, The Oklahoman, The (Portland) Oregonian, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Dallas Morning News.
And how did The Wall Street Journal treat it? The business paper combined the latest index (mentioned in a frontpage refer) with the Social Security COLA information on page A6.
With a critical eye on media, Hal Morris writes daily postings at GrumpyEditor.com.