Did New York City based NPR need to hype fears of an economic collapse to Main Street USA, who’s so far not spooked by the bogeyman in Wall Street’s closet? NYC called in help from partners in the Chicago, the radio program THIS AMERICAN LIFE. Together they fashioned a monster to scare the heartland.

TAL Reporter Alex Blumberg collaborated with NPR in creating a story defining “commercial paper,” the money market, and the cryptically un-ominous “Breaking the Buck” to an audience who might not otherwise be standing on their chairs. They interviewed a treasurer in Arizona who had been trembling in the privacy of his office at the prospect of a Wall Street meltdown. He was monitoring the signs as they crossed his computer screen in the form of zillions of numbers. We were made to imagine a Matrix-like cascade into which, if you peered closely, perhaps with eyes unfocused, you could hear Godzilla’s heartbeat outside your door.

They even referred to the looming danger as a monster. Was this a reflection of American life, or a projection?