Why should the media report anything that Terry Jones does?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

Insane people do shit all the time, and no one sends a camera to report on it. Why is anyone paying attention to this man? I once saw a homeless bum deficate in the middle of a busy city street, and not one tv news person showed up to cover it. Anything Terry Jones does is the same thing.

[Critters2]

1. I've been wondering the same thing. His effing church has fewer than 30 members.

Who gives a fuck what they do?

[csziggy]

10. Does he still have that many members - I thought some left

After his first threats to burn a holy book.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

24. he has 30 members ...his own daughter left his congregation after this stunt...

[pnwmom]

2. Good question. They shouldn't.

But the reason they do it is for the ratings.

[Hannah Bell]

12. That's not the reason. It's laughable.

[pnwmom]

17. Sure it is. Controversy drives the ratings.

Why do you think they do it?

[Bragi]

33. How do explain the media self-censorship then?

Jones received zero coverage in US MSM from September to last Friday, when the murderous mobs appeared in Afghanistan, urged on my Imams and by Karzai.

The US MSM did not cover his January announcement of his trial of the Koran, they did not cover his stunt burning of the Koran, they did not cover his announcement that he was going to the UK to speak, and they did not cover the story about him subsequently being banned from the UK.

So if they were so keen on ratings, and he is such a ratings getter, how do you explain this US MSM media blackout?

[elleng]

3. No good reason; used to be that such would 'sell papers.'

[pnwmom]

18. Now it "raises the ratings." n/t

[pacalo]

4. Irresponsibility, perverse setting of priorities. Sucks to the nth.

[msongs]

5. look at all the attention it gets which means more people see advertising nt

[EFerrari]

6. Because it makes the Republican base feel self-righteous.

It feeds the illness they depend on to win elections when they can't steal them.

[JoePhilly]

26. That's the one. Makes the nuts feel like they did something to the evil Muslims.

Gets them riled up.

[brooklynite]

7. Same reason they cover Fred Phelps...

controversy sells papers.

[bluestateguy]

8. Asking them not to would be like asking them not to look at the pink elephant

You'll never tear the media away from the next shiny new object.

[chollybocker]

9. Because he has RELIGIOUS FAITH.

Whether he believes in God, Allah, Buddah, Voodoo, Bigfoot, UFO's, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster imprinted on cinnamon toast, it's irrelevent; the media will slobber all over it.

Change the channel, switch the dial, turn the page, tune out. Anyone who uses the word "faith" is already lying. ;)

[alp227]

11. because that story is sensational and entertaining, like Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, etc.

think about how the media has been making news more like entertainment than serious stuff since the fairness doctrine was repealed. so that's why you see so much celebrity gossip and lifestyle segments and human interest stories on the today show and morning shows and only 10-20 minutes of serious news. and then even in the evening news too.

[JohnnyRingo]

13. I didn't hear about it until the trouble began in Afghanistan

I guess he did it sometime last month from what I understand, and I've yet to see the footage he so desperately wanted the world to view. I imagine he put it up on YouTube, and the media doesn't control that.

I don't think the mainstream media went out of their way to report a nut burning a religious book in Florida. It was only when they had to cover the protests in the Middle East that they reported it.

Am I wrong? I don't watch the news 24/7, so I may have missed the coverage of his "event".

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

15. I guess he could have lied

Said he burned it, and tossed it out there.....

It's scary if there are assholes over there scouring the internet trying to find a reason to kill people and incite violence.

[Bragi]

32. You are absolutely correct

The US media has been self-censoring itself on this matter. They virtually blanked Jones out from September to last Friday's riots, and decided not to inform Americans about his March Koran-burning stunt.

Even today (Monday) you would be hard-pressed to find much prominent coverage of this story in US media.

The result is that word of the Koran burning is being spread abroad through other channels, while Americans remain fairly ignorant and/or confused about what's going on.

This is what can happen when media decide not to do their jobs properly.

[JohnnyRingo]

34. I see your point...

but if news cameras showed up to cover the event last month, weekly burnings would have cropped up across the country the next day. Then in an endless game of oneupmanship, the bible, flag, and anything known to provoke would go up in flames for no other reason than to get a piece of that 15 minute spotlight.

I believe in freedom of speech, but there's no right in notoriety (LOL). I believe in this case, "not doing their job" by avoiding Terry Jones and his religious circus side show was the proper thing to do.

Screw Terry Jones, and screw the fanatics who think they have to kill for an inanimate object.

[Hannah Bell]

14. I've been asking that question for days. Furthermore, why isn't the IRS on

his ass for his for-profit furniture business & his fraudulent tax exemption?

Furthermore, why is our man in Kabul, Hamid Karzai, "demanding an apology" as if the actions of some pastor of a dinky little church represented the US or its people in any way whatsoever?

Furthermore, why was Karzhai instrumental in publicizing Jones in Afghanistan?

It's psyops; IMO, Jones' connections to the Christian far-right have a lot more to do with him getting publicity than ratings or anything else like that.

As if people tune into CNN to hear the latest about an unknown pastor burning korans. As if any blip in ratings from that event even registers.

Psyops.

[jwirr]

16. They should not have reported on the story from the beginning. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Because it gives them something to do while they're ignoring everything from unions to fallout. nt

[Keith Bee]

20. "If it bleeds, it leads"

That media axiom speaks volumes. The louder you are, the more attention you receive.

[Bragi]

21. Because that's their job

They have already tried self-censorship -- they didn't report anything about Jones recent Koran book-0burning stunt until Friday, when the murderous mobs appeared.

That's why so many Americans are now confused about this and understandably think the riots on Friday were somehow a spillover from last Septembers canceled Koran-burning.

The murderous mobs learned of the stunt through other sources, the main one being a statement condemning Jones by made by Afghan President Karzai, which was then picked up by Imams in Friday's mosque preachings.

The people pushing this story and fueling the riots are not dependent on MSM. They have other channels.

In my view, criticizing media for doing their jobs is misdirected.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

22. this man was told by top US officials what would happen to our soldiers & our people in the ME if...

he did do this...he was warned of the deaths he would cause.

He needs to be sent to fight and protect our soldiers in Afghanistan right NOW!

and if he refuses to do it he should be arrested and tried for murder.


I have a feeling his days on this earth are numbered anyway....lots of Muslims will be hunting him down lookimg to kill him.

[Bragi]

23. Wrong on every count /nt

[ElsewheresDaughter]

25. in your opinion

everybody is intitled to one

[Bragi]

27. I see little coverage today (Monday)

If the US media was so hot to cover Jones, you'd think newspapers and TV news would be filled with stories, interviews, commentary, etc.

Go check out Monday's media. What with the rampages on Friday, and the killing spilling into Sunday, you'd think there'd be a whole lot of coverage in today's media.

I see not a single story in the NYT, and google news indicates there is little coverage at all today.

So how do we explain this big quiet going on if media are so hot to cover this guy?

Or is maybe something else happening to explain this media self-censorship.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

28. Because it's newsworthy.

Terry Jones' actions had major consequences, including attracting comment from Obama and the US government and leading to riots in Afghanistan. That makes them newsworthy.

[Bragi]

30. Which raises this question:

Why are US media so afraid of covering Jones like any other news maker? Why the self-censorship?

[bluethruandthru]

29. They shouldn't.

He's not news. There are plenty of actual news stories that they could be reporting..but they have decided that people want to see the most insane, outrageous people and what they're doing (teabaggers, sarah palin, terry jones, et.al.).

We've now become accustomed to our "news" being full of totally irrelevant crap.

[Turborama]

31. They didn't report on his act of spiritual arson until after the events on Afganistan

The Qur'an burning took place on Sunday the 20th of March, less than 2 weeks before the terrible events on Friday.

There was a media blackout even in America.

The only article one can find is http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hiqhizasRIx4id4gcrj5d09Gg_5g?docId=CNG.3c9302d7a8d3fe772d9bb86f058e598c.3b1">this AFP one which didn't get picked up.

There is hardly any electricity in that area of Afghanistan, let alone TV or computer owners, and illiteracy rates are amongst the worst in the world.

Thus, ANY news from the outside world takes relatively a VERY long time - if ever - to reach villagers there. When it does it is obviously by word of mouth.

This comment to AP from top UN envoy in Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura is worth noting...

Karzai has in recent months increasingly criticized both the international community and U.S.-led foreign forces — the first for being ineffectual and unaccountable, the second for causing unnecessary civilian casualties in its campaign against insurgents.

Some Western diplomats privately say Karzai stoked some of the tension in recent days by making speeches about issues that had not gained much attention in the country, including the Koran burning.

De Mistura, however, said he drew no connection between the riots and Karzai's earlier condemnation of the Quran-burning. He said it takes "two to three weeks for information to percolate. It's not like in the West. Then it goes through the mosque and then through the Friday prayers."

"I don't think we should be blaming any Afghan. We should be blaming the person who produced the news — the one who burned the Koran," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/obama-condemns-koran-burning-afghan-riots-continue/433154

[Bragi]

35. Yes, which is why blaming media is misplaced in this case /nt