Blog #18 Mass media creates awareness and informs individuals concerning various matters of national and global interest. The Biden administration recently extended the relief on student loan interest and collections to approximately more than a million default borrowers on loans advanced by private lenders. The move protects about eight-hundred thousand borrowers whose tax refunds are at risk of seizure. The relief also covers loans advanced through the Federal Family Education Loan Program but does not apply to non-default borrowers. Additionally, Biden rejected calls to use his executive authority to waive $50000 in federal student loan debt on each borrower. He, however, supported the cancellation of $10000 on every borrower. Therefore, the paper provides a brief insight concerning how the mass media covered the matter. Firstly, it is worth noting that the policy change was an important national issue, and it received extensive media coverage proportional to its weight. For example, it was covered by various local and global media platforms, including Forbes, CNBC News, Yahoo Finance, and ABC News, to mention but a few. Next, it is also notable that the matter was covered differently by various media platforms. For instance, Learn Liberty discussed whether it was a good idea to forgive Student Loan Debt (Learn Liberty, 2013).On the other hand, ABC news addressed President Biden’s view concerning Student Loan forgiveness (ABC News, 2020). Also, CNBC News discussed whether the U.S. could erase Student loan debt (CNBC News, 2019). Based on personal assessment, the media platform that covered the issue more accurately was ABC News. For instance, it addressed Biden’s perspectives concerning the matter by interviewing him. As a result, it depicted Biden’s clear and authentic view regarding the issue. In summary, extending the pause on student loan interest and collection is indeed a matter of significant national concern. It received extensive media coverage with apparent differences in how the various media platforms addressed it. ABC News addressed the issue more accurately compared to other media platforms. References ABC News. (2020). President-elect Joe Biden on student loan forgiveness. https://web.facebook.com/ABCNewsLive/videos/president-elect-joe-biden-on-student-loan-forgiveness/1677719575742821/?_rdc=1&_rdr CNBC News. (2019). Student Loan Forgiveness: Can the U.S. Erase Student Debt? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DCLRrraR-A Learn Liberty. (2013). Is Student Loan Debt Forgiveness a Good Idea? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Q1UfWYQkQ

Biden administration expanding pause on student loan interest and collections

(CNN)The Biden administration is expanding the pause on student loan interest and collections to the more than a million borrowers who are in default on loans made by private lenders, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. "This step particularly protects 800,000 borrowers who are at risk of having their tax refunds seized," Psaki said at a White House briefing. The pause on collections covers loans made as part of the Federal Family Education Loan Program. It does not apply to borrowers who are not in default. Biden has resisted calls from top congressional Democrats -- including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- to use his executive authority to forgive $50,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower, but Biden, who has said he would support canceling $10,000 per borrower, has repeatedly argued that the government shouldn't forgive debt for people who went to "Harvard and Yale and Penn." He's also indicated that he believes Congress should make changes through legislation, which would make them harder to undo, though Psaki said Tuesday that the White House is "still taking a closer look at our options on student loans." "This includes examining the authorities we have, the existing loan forgiveness programs that are clearly not working as well as they should," Psaki said. Psaki continued: "This includes borrower defense, total and permanent disability charges, there's a lot of steps we're looking at and we'll continue to review those and be in touch of course with Leader Schumer about our process." A broad cancellation of federal student loan debt would be unprecedented. But a memo from lawyers at Harvard's Legal Services Center and its Project on Predatory Student Lending says the Department of Education has the power to do so. The department already has some more targeted debt cancellation policies in place. It wipes away debt for defrauded students as well as disabled veterans. Biden could provide relief for hundreds of thousands of more borrowers just by expanding those programs, according to the National Student Legal Defense Network. In one of his first acts in office, Biden extended the pause on student loan payments and interest, a Covid relief benefit put in place by Congress last year that had already been renewed by the Trump administration. Federal student loan borrowers won't have to make payments until October 1 at the earliest. And the administration earlier this month reversed a controversial Trump-era policy that will lead to the cancellation of roughly $1 billion in student debt for borrowers who were defrauded by their colleges. The change will deliver full loan forgiveness to 73,000 people who were deemed eligible for the relief under former Education Secretary Betsy Devos but received only partial loan forgiveness after she changed the cancellation calculation. Last week, the administration waived a paperwork requirement during the pandemic for disabled borrowers to receive approval for loan forgiveness. But advocates say much more could be done to help these borrowers, like automatically discharging their debt.