Why is it the media mentions profits in dollar amount of oil companies, but never the profit margin?

Question

Or that oil companies pay the government more in taxes, than they keep in profits, which they add back on at the pump.

Answer 1

People in the media believe the dollar figure is attention grabbing and they get paid to grab your attention.  "Billions of dollars from oil!  We'll tell you about it right after these messages from our sponsors."

While most in the media likely think the oil companies could afford to cut prices, they probably don't care that much.  The higher priority is packaging the message with the most punch to maximize their own profits (ratings = advertisers).

Answer 2

Because it sounds 'better' (as in it would get MORE viewers) if they mention a headline that sounds cynical.  

Compare these two made-up headlines-

Company A has made $600,000,000,000 from Oil.

Versus- That company has a profit margin of $10,000.

Which one will catch viewers more?  The one I started out with.  

Plus the news is never substantial anyway.  I'm NO fan of oil companies nor of how we use so MUCH foreign made oil.  However, I am for fairness- and I want to learn more in a fair way.  I'm no fan of the media...it just loves to get viewers and will do anything to do that- including putting ridiculous pieces about celebrities when millions are hurting around the world.  Yeah there isn't objectivity nor well-written stories.

Answer 3

Profits are what's left in the company's account after all their expenses, taxes, opportunity costs, costs/returns on thier investments, pay for their workers, etc. Profit comes after all that. It doesn't matter what their profit margin is, they have "record profits", which means they have record amounts of money to spend however they want.  

Answer 4

Probably because most people don't know the difference.  Exxon's quarterly profit margin was almost 11 percent of their 390 billion dollar annual revenues.  So no that isn't a negative amount.  What they should mention is the ratio of profits related to wells they own vs oil they import.

Answer 5

The thing is, they are making record profits,aren't they?  Somehow, despite the taxes they pay and the incredibly high cost of foreign oil, they're doing quite well.  Hmmm.

Answer 6

It also has to do with the fact that what matters most is their total profits. The fact that the profit margins are low is irrelevent if the oil companies are doing large volumes of business. With record total profits it means that the oil companies could afford to cut profit margins a little more to help out the consumers. Looking at profit margins is too narrow. You need to look at the total picture.