Rep. Rashida Tlaib cursing got 5 times more coverage on cable news than Rep. Steve King embracing...

[demmiblue]

When it comes to a congresswoman cursing versus a congressman embracing white supremacy, cable news apparently believes the cursing deserves more coverage -- five times more coverage, to be exact.

On January 4, the day after Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) referred to President Donald Trump by saying “Impeach the motherfucker” during a reception with supporters, cable news outlets (CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC) spent over two and a half hours discussing the topic. In comparison, in the roughly 24 hours following the publication of Rep. Steve King's (R-IA) comments in The New York Times that showed him embracing white supremacy, cable news devoted just under 30 minutes of coverage to the congressman’s racism.



...

It isn't just the amount of coverage that shows a clear difference in how these stories were covered. The day after Tlaib cursed, congressional Democrats appearing on cable news were consistently asked for their response to her comment. While some Republicans have issued condemnations of King, cable news doesn’t have the same urgency in asking elected Republicans to respond to King’s comments.

The imbalance in coverage between these stories raises serious questions about just what stories cable news considers newsworthy and whether there’s a double standard in coverage of Democrats versus Republicans.

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/01/11/rep-rashida-tlaib-cursing-got-5-times-more-coverage-cable-news-rep-steve-king-embracing-white/222504

[ck4829]

1. K&R. Rashida Tlaib isn't the problem

The media is.

Now it's our job to point it out.

[c-rational]

17. Agreed +1

[jayschool2013]

18. The entire "media"?

It was the New York Times, after all, that initially reported King's comments.

[uponit7771]

3. Yep, .... MSM helping normalize racism in America

[empedocles]

4. At this point in the publicity seeking season, the most important thing for 'players',

- is that the media spell the name right.

[NNadir]

5. So much for the idea of a "liberal" media. n/t.

[delisen]

6. A Free Press can be undermined by profit motive n/t

[watoos]

12. It's not about profit.

[Squinch]

7. That is a GREAT article. Thank you.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. it's always like this

That's how Trump catapulted ahead of the Republican primary clown car -- all that free air time.

[PeeJ52]

9. So true...

I remember tRump calling in to Morning Joe on MSNBC almost every morning getting his free 10 minutes of air time chit chatting with Joe, Mika, and Willie. I just wondered, how in the hell can he get away with this? Where are the rest of the primary candidates? Then, where's Hillary?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

10. No surprise there!!

[nycbos]

11. Wow that says a lot.

[Bob Loblaw]

13. Is it "news" that King is a racist?

I'm not saying King's racist BS should be ignored, but the networks don't cover the sunrise every morning either.

[watoos]

16. Someone made the decision that King

is more of a liability now, that King is off the far right grid. They want to replace him with a John Kasich type wolf in sheep's clothing because the GOP image is being a bit tarnished to put it nicely.

[Va Lefty]

14. K & R! Thanx for posting this!

[watoos]

15. The M$M is not our friend.

The NY Times spent 1 1/2 years digging up the story about the corrupt Trump crime family. Laying out the money laundering, the tax fraud, the article that exposed that Trump got 400 million dollars from daddy.

That 1 1/2 year expose' made the news cycle for a total of 24 hours.

Think about that all of you who think that what the M$M does has to with making money, it doesn't. It has to do with them being complicit with the far right wing narratives.

[spanone]

19. All media outlets appear to admire rupert murdoch and his style of 'news' reporting

[infullview]

20. The "free" press is all about profit.

You can thank Ronald Ray-gun for deregulating the media. There used to be laws that specified that the news had to be performed as a public service (I.E. no advertising sponsors). That was the bargain that we, the U.S., gave in trade for licensing the use of the airwaves. When I was a kid, news blackouts were never a thing. Every night I would watch Cronkite give the death toll for the latest offensive in Vietnam, and saw the flag draped caskets. That is what made it real, and is why people became politically active and protested. Our news today is so completely sterilized and filtered that reported atrocities are not even 'real' to people. They can simply flip to another channel for something more entertaining or just think to themselves "glad I'm not there" and move on. If the news we are given is not accurate and complete then we can be guided by lies and thus we are not a true democratic society.

[mahannah]

21. "there's a double standard in coverage of Democrats versus Republicans. " Also men vs women.

[dweller]

22. and I'm happy with it ...

think about it, the more people who might not be following political news catch a headline that claims a new office holder called MF45 a motherfucker.... might be more inclined to saying so themselves out loud to others/peers etc

so some racist jackass repube blathered a typical talking point however wrong
didn't get any coverage ... 🤔

but that motherfucker! is on the tip of many conscious tongues ...


just trying to find a bright in a dark cloud

✌🏼️

[Raine]

23. That's why using that kind of language

is counter productive, the focus was on debating the foul language used. It's best not to give them a subject like that that takes up all the airtime.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. I don't care that Tlaib called Trump a motherfucker.

But I don't think it's wise to prematurely call for impeachment.

When the charges come out, then maybe. But if the Senate won't convict, what's the point? And, if the Senate convicts, then we are up against an incumbent President Pence in 2020.

[Mc Mike]

25. Well, to be fair, SOME things are just beyond the pale.

[stonecutter357]

26. K&R

[Basement Beat]

27. "Damn librul media at it again."

No surprise. We gotta call it out at every stop.