Category: Media

Children’s exposure to disaster and violence in the news

Media
by Dafna Lemish

BY DAFNA LEMISH / Images of blood-covered children and horrified adults, sounds of howling winds and screaming people, live videos of approaching storms and devastating destruction have all permeated our media coverage of the recent tornado in Moore, Okla. Such news coverage, tagged “Disaster Marathon” by Tamar Liebes, an Israeli media researcher, represents common journalistic practices for covering horror tales of suicide bombings, natural disasters and major accidents. With handheld mobile devices, every passer-by can document the experience in sight and sound (and contribute to our thirst for gory images) as we struggle with the emotional weight of making sense of such tragedies.

Murder less foul: The Duncan shooting in the New York Times

Media
by George Salamon

BY GEORGE SALAMON / How would the paper of record treat the Aug. 16 shooting of the Australian college baseball player by three teenagers in Duncan, Oklahoma? As of Aug. 22, it hasn’t touched the story. Unless you count a seven-line item from the Associated Press it ran Aug. 20, under the heading “Sports Briefing/Baseball.” Say it ain’t so, Jill Abramson, or anyone at the Times, please. The paper’s printing of this abysmal little piece about the horrific shooting and death of the 23-year-old Chris Lane, “Charges in Fatal Shooting in Oklahoma,” and placement of it in the “Sports Briefing” section cry out for explanation and an expression of regret.

Media dust storm fuels Obama rodeo clown incident

Media
by William H. Freivogel

BY WILLIAM H. FREIVOGEL / The national dust storm kicked up by the “Obama” clown in a bull ring at the Missouri State Fair is the latest illustration of the way a small local controversy about race can quickly turn into a national one with the help of video, social media, traditional media and radio talk shows.Jo Mannies, Missouri’s premier political reporter at the St. Louis Beacon, traced the way the controversy in Sedalia last weekend quickly reached Washington and beyond.

A pivotal moment for the New York Times

Media
by George Salamon

BY GEORGE SALAMON / For regular readers of our paper of record, the following sentences in an article about the slaughter of Egyptian civilians, “U.S. Condemns Crackdown but Announces No Policy Shift” by Mark Landler and Michael P. Gordon on Aug. 14, must have been one of those “I can’t believe what I just read in the Times” moments: “But Mr. Kerry (U.S. Secretary of State) announced no punitive measures while President Obama, vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard, had no public reaction. As his chief diplomat was speaking of a ‘pivotal moment for Egypt,’ the president was playing golf at a private club.”