kalm wrote: ↑Fri Jun 16, 2023 10:07 am
GannonFan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 16, 2023 7:49 am
There is a lot to that. I think it can be abused. I always think that with the militant white supremacists that the media swears are increasing their ranks left and right, especially since Trump was elected. I honestly don't think they're much more populous than the Klan has been these past decades. Are there still folks like this? Sure. Are they a big deal in terms of numbers? I strongly doubt it. But if you point a camera where you want to and tell people they can be on TV I think you can show pretty much whatever it is that you're trying to show. Just another facet of yellow journalism these days.
It can be abused and I agree that these idiots are a small minority. However, J6, threats by sitting congressman, etc. make them worth keeping an eye on.
What’s the right number of these types and how do we calculate that in order for them to be newsworthy?
Of course, it's also a chicken and egg thing. Congressmen who make threats get media coverage. J6 crowd was a couple hundred people largely armed with fire extinguishers and cudgels. Democracy was not at the tipping point that day, not even close. But we treat it like it was and pump up these people to be more than they are/were - an angry mob. The next mob sees the media coverage and attention. People make some of the same arguments for school shootings and how they're covered. I thought it was interesting today, the guy who shot up that synagogue in Pittsburgh was sentenced today - almost all the news sites made it a point to not reference his name in headlines or early in articles. It's there if you look close enough, but they stayed away from blasting his name to the rafters. That looked deliberate to me. Maybe the media is understanding the part they play in if not creating news, but prodding it on. The moment Trump was elected we couldn't get out of our way to find a white nationalist to interview, no matter how hard it was to find them. Now they pop up in front of the cameras before the red light even comes on.