Curious coincidences - Updated
Maybe I should join the paranoid group, but I get the sneaking suspicion that sometimes, just as an important story or event unfolds the media focus on something completely inane or different. So we have the Enron trial and Alito being appointed to the Supreme Court, so where is the media focus? It is on Iran, and somehow Osama and mates are also distracting attention.
And where is the story of the US Major-General being given a laughable sentence for torturing an Iraqi Army General to death under the supervision of some unnamed gentlemen? Nowhere, as Iran was more important.
And what was on Fox while the Iraq war was not finding those WMD? That's right, the Michael Jackson trial, far more important. There are more, if I could only remember them, anyone fancy lending a hand?
5/2/06
Just a thought, currently media and popular attention is focused on those cartoons, so who is paying atttention to the fact that Iran was referred to the Security Council, or that extra money had been requested for future wars, or that domestic spying issues, these have all become also rans in the media coverage. Where in 2003 the whole Security Council discussions on Iraq caused protests on the streets in Europe and the US, now all the moves are again being made to attack another country, but as we are so busy discussing whether or not we can draw cartoons of characters from the Quran, no protests are taking place. Why else drag up cartoons published last autumn now?
For other news bypassing massiv media attention I refer you to http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=8492
And where is the story of the US Major-General being given a laughable sentence for torturing an Iraqi Army General to death under the supervision of some unnamed gentlemen? Nowhere, as Iran was more important.
And what was on Fox while the Iraq war was not finding those WMD? That's right, the Michael Jackson trial, far more important. There are more, if I could only remember them, anyone fancy lending a hand?
5/2/06
Just a thought, currently media and popular attention is focused on those cartoons, so who is paying atttention to the fact that Iran was referred to the Security Council, or that extra money had been requested for future wars, or that domestic spying issues, these have all become also rans in the media coverage. Where in 2003 the whole Security Council discussions on Iraq caused protests on the streets in Europe and the US, now all the moves are again being made to attack another country, but as we are so busy discussing whether or not we can draw cartoons of characters from the Quran, no protests are taking place. Why else drag up cartoons published last autumn now?
For other news bypassing massiv media attention I refer you to http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=8492
Posted at 2/02/2006 02:51:00 PM UTC
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2 Comment(s):
You're right. One thing the Blogosphere has been able to do is focus attention on issues and events that the MSM has ignored, purposely or not, and created a brouhaha that causes them to pick up the story again, or for the first time.
That's why what we write about is important. Every voice counts!
I think that Missing-White-Girl-of-the-month doesn't have the impact it used to. It probably helps to (re)introduce a meme that's at least somehow related to the thing it's supposed to overshadow in the news. Which is probably why dusting off Bin Laden from time to time is handy. He short circuits our critical thinking on issues related to 'The War On Terror'.
I think that MWGOTM just gives lazy networks something to report that won't run them afoul of the Rove machine, in a way that returns ratings.
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