On the "news" media coverage of the horror in SC

[WilliamPitt]

Leaving aside for just a short moment the fathomless horror of what has taken place in South Carolina, I need to make note of something that compounded the sickness in my stomach.

I read the articles on the massacre this morning, but wanted more, so I started flipping back and forth between CNN and MSNBC for further coverage...and got a tidal wave of commercials on both. It just kept going on both networks, so I actually decided to time it: less than five minutes of actual news, followed by nearly six minutes of ads.

At one point, "liberal" MSNBC finished their avalanche of ads and came back to the studio, where the anchor basically said, "We're continuing our coverage, this is just terrible, we'll be right back," and another five minutes of commercials unfolded. CNN was no better. I turned it off in disgust.

No one has to tell me the "news" media sucks. I've made a career out of describing it, dissecting it, and working for an organization trying to be better than it. This, however, was notably egregious, and I'll tell you why.

Columbine coverage: no commercials, and I remember that clearly. Sandy Hook coverage: no commercials, and I remember that clearly. Massacre at a Black church? Buy insurance buy a car buy this bladder pill GE is awesome buy more insurance "This is terrible we'll be right back" buy a car buy a car buy insurance for that car buy this boner pill, lather rinse repeat.

Two schools and a church. What's the difference?

The difference is binary. The difference is Black and White.

Call me cynical for thinking ad placement is a bellweather for attitude, but in my eyes, it's grotesquely vivid. Binary. The One, and the Zero. I got 20 minutes of commercials and seven minutes of news about a White kid massacring Black parishioners - including a state elected official who was also the pastor - in one of the most historic churches in the nation.

Sick.

[Fred Sanders]

1. The American terrorist news algorithm is sacred:

[Scuba]

3. +1

[kentuck]

9. Right on!

[daleanime]

11. +1

[heaven05]

12. excellent

america your duplicitous nature is showing, again.

[erronis]

13. Love flowcharts - they are actually pretty accurate. Maybe some for terrorists?

What to attack?
What religion, color, race?
What media attention will I get? Do I want Fux or CNN or even ABC?
Should I be a martyr (try to commit suicide) or be an evangelist for my stupidology?

[Fred Sanders]

17. Not to worry, Fox has it covered so the simple minded tools that watch can understand.

Isn't that the beauty of Fox, boiling down complex concepts so that idiots are convinced only idiots understand?

[cntrygrl]

22. Brilliant

[CanonRay]

2. Spot on

and even when it is pointed out, it does not change. Over and over and over....

[tavernier]

4. The difference is Black and White.

Good sentence for so many reasons.
👍

[Nye Bevan]

5. Massacre suspect caught! Buy 4 tires and get a $60 gift card!

[hunter]

7. Seriously??? Those ads disappeared on DU during the previous events?

No they did not.



DU ads are placed by computer algorithms, day in and day out, with occasional tweaks by admins to keep the most blatantly offensive ads from appearing, as best google allows.

In television "news" a human program director decides to drop ads for breaking news of national importance.

U.S.A. "news" media is utterly transparent. To them murders of white people, and terrorism against white people, are far more important than murders of anyone else, or terrorism against anyone else.

Personally I've abandoned U.S.A. television news entirely. It's no different than the crap and propaganda we used to sneer at when the Soviet Union did it.

In most of the U.S.A. the only time the local news shows non-white people is in "The Scary Non-White Person of the Day" feature, usually a mug shot taken by someone who was probably fired from the Department of Motor Vehicles for taking unflattering driver's license photos.

In the U.S.A. television news is a sick racist joke, and it's not just Fox.

[erronis]

15. Darn - I don't even see these.

I'll have to remove all the thousands of layers of spam/ad filters to be able to support DU by buying Yokohama tires or Extra-Strength Viagra.

[awoke_in_2003]

25. I had to get AdBlock for my iPhone

about 50% of the time I went to a page on DU, it would reload 5 or 6 times due to problems, then crash. I can't afford to get my star right now. AdBlock has killed all ads on DU, and now I have no problems with pages crashing. For IOS it was 99 cents- I am sure the price is similar for Android.

[SalviaBlue]

20. Damn, buy a star already.

[jwirr]

6. Good point.

[heaven05]

8. thank you

nothing cynical about your analysis, tis america after all.

[marions ghost]

10. Sick

totally agree.

Thanks for pointing this type of exploitation out, Will.

[LovingA2andMI]

14. Waiting on the Media to Call Dylann Roof a Terrorist.....

Now Andrea Mitchell at MSNBC is interviewing Mark Sanford no less. The so-called "LIBERAL" Network....

This is will end well.....

[mnhtnbb]

16. This country is so fucked up.

I belong to a private group on fb--just about a dozen friends--most of them Republican,
and we all came together through the process of losing weight several years ago.
This morning one person mentioned the terrorist attack and killing of 9 people last night--one--
on the thread started every day.

I just posted I'm done with them. I do not know how to talk to Republicans anymore. How can anyone
support them? Faux Noise is relentless in their propagandizing; Republicans want to limit
democracy and individual right to vote; Republicans announced at the beginning of Obama's presidency
that they would thwart him at every opportunity. And they have. They want to control women's
reproduction. And all they want is endless war. They don't give a shit about the environment. Anything
to make $$. And someone in the White House who isn't white? Well, the hatred and vitriol is unimaginable.

I am so fucking sick of them.

And Nikki Haley can go fuck herself.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

18. FAUX news take

If someone would have had a gun...

Do we take everyone's gun ...

on and on - mind rot

[Snotcicles]

19. Ah yes the "hook". "We have this super special guest coming up next",

than a cluster of for or five commercials, the host appears to say "our super special guest is next" followed by another five or six commercials. MSNBC is especially bad about it.

[PatrynXX]

21. which is why I've stopped watching that sort of media.

streaming maybe but I learn more by reading. a video comes up on cnn and bonk I hit the back button

[project_bluebook]

23. I noticed that last night

After midnight, tuned across the AM band, not a word, nothing but the same ol right wing talk crap. If a black man went to a white church and did this it would be 24/7 on all networks, all stations.

[1StrongBlackMan]

24. LOL ...

Last night, I saw on DU that CNN was doing coverage. I have never watch CNN, except in airports and hotel rooms, so I had to scroll through the guide to find it. Finally, I saw CNN and recognized Anderson Cooper 360 ... So I clicked on it. I sat through a couple commercials and rushed into the kitchen to put on some coffee (keeping an ear out for when the station returned to the coverage) ... I finished putting on the coffee and return to watch, still more commercials.

I actually went back to the guide to make such I was on CNN, and not one of those QVC-sell you something channels.

I turned it off in disgust, as well; but, didn't make the connection you have. Thanks.

[marym625]

26. K&R

[moondust]

27. To be fair,

the ads have been sucking up more and more airtime for years. Lawrence O'Donnell's show is the worst of them all in that respect. I suppose management is selling as much airtime to advertisers as they possibly can and it's making TV unwatchable. I did notice that it seemed even worse than usual last night.