Chris Hayes sums it up [View all]
"There's a real attentional trap that all protest movements face and have faced for a long time. If you pull off protests that are polite and civil, even if large, they will struggle to get coverage. Reporters will dismiss them as not newsworthy. But if a few people start lighting stuff on fire? Then you have news. This creates an *enormous* attentional advantage towards the most violent and chaotic kind of protest."
Yes, absolutely. And the depressing part, to me at least, is I don't think there's much soul searching about this, if any, going on in today's newsrooms. The media will continue to let themselves be used in this way instead of doing the kind of in depth on the scene reporting that is required.
If you are as sick of this as I am, consider watching Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC. He does not let maga manipulate his coverage. For instance, last night he did not air on scene from the protests because as he put it (paraphrasing) nothing was happening. And by that, he meant nothing to warrant the overreaction of the administration. Basically, the protests were and are the equivalent of a sports celebration in any major city. Instead, he concentrated on what the administration is trying to distract from.