Russert, Tiger Woods, and Death, Pain.. Main Stream Media Style..

[Stuart G]

This is not meant to be disrespectful of anyone. It is an attempt to understand the overplay of these stories. The Russert death and its ramifications were completely controlled by the MSM. It is a sad and untimely event, fearful and sudden. Why the coverage? I believe the control of the news was to frighten us with death again. A controlled fear coming from a media that will use anything to frighten our population. Let us not think of other things that are very frightening too that we caused. And who likes to deal with funerals?
For example, the U.S. has tortured its prisoners. The media cannot control that one. The U.S. Economy is tanking. Hard to control that story too..So...
... Reduce it and spin it away with fear about a major TV figure, like a political figure, that dies suddenly, due to something we all understand..a heart attack.. This is not about the Moderator of Meet the Press. It is about spinning away total incompetence in the U.S. Government, at the highest levels, concerning a possible depression, and spinning it away to death of a middle aged, well known, well liked competent TV person.
.. Tiger is a variation on that theme. His pain and suffering contrasted with the pain and suffering of soldiers and civilians in wars the U.S started and gone wrong. The Main Stream Media fails to take its share of responsibility, and it is not even calling Bush a "liar" for saying, "The U.S does not Torture." And spins it away to stories about Tiger Woods knees.
..Sure it seems far fetched. The MSM doesn't care what it seems like. It wants to control the flow of news so it has no competition. Let us hear some more about Tiger Wood's knees, as has been pointed out in this forum that was the lead story on the CBS Evening News tonight. Not the torture or death that we have caused and could have been prevented.

[Swamp Rat]

1. Obey the images on your Jesus Box.

Be afraid.

[Stuart G]

5. Thursday..6:30am.. 6/19 ...last story..

Update.. My local CBS all news affiliate, WBBM in Chicago, had a story this morning about yesterday's funeral. This last story marked the seventh day that this was in the news.
.. Did this man save the world? Does the media have other stories to report? Does the population really want to hear this stuff?
This is just one reason that internet news is so important and growing so quickly. You can choose what to avoid by a click of the mouse, or just not looking at a particular story. If you are going to listen to radio or TV you are a captive audience. While I believe that this TV newsman surely made some contributions to society, (to be argued elsewhere) this coverage is an insult to us all. This coverage represents the very worst news editing decisions. Kinda like, "We will put on what we want and screw you.."
Thanks for reading this.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. And KO is not starting with torture, but polls and yes

they both sat near the people in charge of GE

Now that little piece of data is actually in the freudian slip category

Oh and Iowa, I have yet to listen to them mention the midwest

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. It's simple. They're just feeding the beast.

The vast majority of the inhabitants of our great country WANT to see the Tiger Woods story lead the evening news, they care about Britney's mental health, they made Paris Hilton a celebrity, they know more about Brangelina than they do about what's going on in Afghanistan.

That's what they want. And that's why Fuckface and his thugs in the White House and Pentagon were able to get away with all that they've gotten away with for the past seven + years. People want fluff, not substance, and they sure as hell don't want the bad news.

[earthlover]

4. I think it is great that Tiger Woods is portrayed as a role model who works through pain

Anyone who has suffered the pain of similar injuries knows what Woods went through. Here is a positive human moment, overcoming obstacles to achieve a goal against the odds. Oh...we are supposed to hush-hush the story? Oh really? The same folks would be complaining if an African-American's heroism was religated to the back of the paper....

And as for Russert, here was another role model. Someone who totally enjoyed, relished....politics! Something, of course most of us do. But, again, here was role model stating to the world that this is cool, not necessarily nerdy. And, if he wasn't in 100% agreement with the sanctimonious among us, he is pissed on as he enters the grave. How many of us can say we lived our lives with so much pleasure at what one had to do for a living?

[KharmaTrain]

6. Media Creatures...The Medium Is The Message...

What we're watching is the corporate media showing its own arrogance and self-importance in the cultivation and deification of its media "stars"...characters built up to profit from.

In Russert's case, he was the visible symbol of a beltway media long wrapped up in its own personality...turning those who were supposed to "report" the news into the news itself. It created a cult of personality where bylines and face time became symbols of one's "credibility" and power and that they became the gatekeepers on what was "good" and "bad"...the arbeiters of "popular" opinion...better known as conventional wisdom. Russert was an icon of this wisdom...he set it, he lived by it, he was to be defered to...even in death. When he declared a race over, it was over. If he declared a candidate to be untrustworthy, there was little they could do to escape that taint...or if he decided to lob the softball, give a buddy a benefit of the doubt or play favor to a "source", that was fine as well. Being a gatekeeper, he decided the rules.

Tiger has always been a media creature...both good and bad. At its best, its a story of empowerment...of someone of incredible talent and personality rising to the top in a world of provincial conformity. The narrative has buit over the years as Tiger's personana has been cultivated and fortunes have been made from it. This latest story has merit in the fact of his own physical disabilities, but now it falls into the media's mythology as his victory reinforces the image building Woods and the media have crafted.

Our corporate media has redefined what is "news" as to a "flavor-of-the moment" show for the short-attention spans. Complex issues don't play well on a visual medium as compared to Tiger pumping the fists after sinking the winning putt or Timmeh hugging Big Russ. News divisions now are rolled into entertainment and ratings and revenues determine what is "news" as much as real world events. The fact is that more people will watch a Tiger Woods or Russert's funeral than will stick around for a report on torture or death and destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan or even having their own phones tapped.