They Shouldn’t

TV Newser:

ABC News says that it will have people there to cover the event, and afterward producers and executives will meet to decide what images to show on-air.

A CBS News spokesperson says: “We will cover the story with the appropriate context, as we would any other news story”

An NBC News spokesperson says: “Our policy is to cover news events as they take place, and report on them with context and perspective. The determination about what images are appropriate and will be broadcast will be made by NBC News management after the event happens.”

A CNN spokesperson says: “We will dedicate resources to the story and provide coverage as news warrants.”

Isn’t this Parenting 101? Stop giving the delinquent child attention. If you ignore the tantrums, eventually they stop. Just because someone does something inflammatory doesn’t mean it’s news or needs to be covered. Let the crazies be crazy in a vacuum. Without an audience, they’re not significant. They’re just crazy. The media creates madness when it rewards bad behavior with attention.

When I worked for CNN, they were cautious about putting blog content on the air without our vetting and revetting. The argument was – and rightly so – that CNN is a megaphone, and the power of that megaphone should not be underestimated. The network’s ratings were higher back then and there were more true journalists in house than there are now, but that’s no reason for the standard to slip so dramatically.

This isn’t national news. It’s a bad local story on a slow day, and even then, a good News Director would refuse to send a crew on the grounds that it’s batsh*t insanity.

Where is the good to come of burning a holy book? Any holy book? Why encourage it?

I would have more respect for the network that didn’t budge than the hordes that do. That’s a station I’d watch, and if I were an advertiser, it’s where I’d spend my money. I’d also make a point of publicizing why.

Of course the networks will argue they have to cover the burning because it’s news, ignoring the fact that they made it news. They shouldn’t have given this moron a microphone – let alone a megaphone – in the first place.

One thought on “They Shouldn’t”

  1. "Of course the networks will argue they have to cover the burning because it's news, ignoring the fact that they made it news. They shouldn't have given this moron a microphone – let alone a megaphone – in the first place."

    AMEN! Unfortunately, it's more the rule than the exception these days.

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