It might help to remember that a recession is economic decline over a period of time, so a steep decline over a very short period is not considered a recession. As we move into a longer period of time (in the past, the rule was two quarters, but that doesn't seem to be a "rule" of the definition anymore), it starts to officially be considered a recession.
So it's not that it was being dismissed as not significant before this but, rather, it hadn't been going on long enough yet to officially be called a recession.
He seemed to be expressing frustration with the fact that the news are just starting to say "we're entering a recession" when it's been hitting a lot of the country hard for quite some time; that the news outlets were dismissing the huge impact it's already having. I was saying that the news outlets weren't dismissing it. Rather, given the time periods are extending, it is now moving from "major economic downturn" to "recession", where the later is the former over a period of time.
The specific point being made was "don't get frustrated that they are downplaying the economic impacts based on the terms they are using; because that's how the terms are defined. It's not a judgement call".
So it's not that it was being dismissed as not significant before this but, rather, it hadn't been going on long enough yet to officially be called a recession.