I'm beginning to think it's time to scrap the current media and start over. None of it works correctly anymore.

Good thing you're not an editor for a major news outlet, huh?

In the 1930s, Geoffrey Dawson, the editor of the Times of London, simply refused to allow any reporting in his powerfully influential paper on German rearmament or Nazi anti-Semitism.

Odd that his news judgment would be your model.

theAmericanist: There is infinite room between ignoring something and blaring it on bullhorns 24/7. It's called perspective. All Kurtz, Benen, and I would ask news departments do is to excercise some.

I recall the 1960's when protesters used a variety of "street theater" tactics and events to create awareness to their causes. I also remember many people tsk-tsk'ing the media saying that if TV and newspapers didn't cover these protesters, they would go away. Make no mistake about it, I am appalled by this "church's" actions, but I do see a strong similarity between then and now.

This should have been a complete non-story. Some kook with less than 50 followers in his congregation wants to burn some books. Nobody should care, and certainly nobody should reward him by giving him undeserved attention - the stunt *is* mainly to get attention after all.

Unfortunately, the media is driven by a variation of Cokie's Law "It doesn't matter if it is true, it is what people are talking about, so I have to talk about it as if it were true."

Replace "true" with "important" and you get the first commandment of modern media. Hence, the promotion of non-stories to the front page just because the pack-journalists are incapable of making any real judgments on what is newsworthy and what is not.

Word for the day: "iatrogenic".

For the record, I read about Jones' stupid plan in La Repubblica here in Italy, so the story certainly had legs.
It would be nice to ignore such fools, but who decides what to ignore? And we musn't forget that much of what dominates the media is actually less important than this. There is a media frenzy about about some star's new hairstyle every week. At least this stunt indirectly concerns a major issue.
We have to keep the media model we have, for better or worse: the alternative is a form of censorship.

Sorry, folks, you're looking at this story with 20th Century eyes.

All it takes is one person with a cell phone to upload the event to YouTube- where it goes viral in a nanosecond. Don't forget, those "dirty rotten no-good towel heads" have internet access, too! And 'Cokie's Law' works equally well on the ether.

Put me down for a "no."

I assume that means a 'no' for MSNBC and a 'yes' for the Washington Monthly ? You didn't get the live interview, but what's the difference, if we see the idiot or read about him ?

The problem here isn't the media, it's religion, and all the non-sense that is included with it. I actually find it odd that all Christians aren't lined up behind this idiot, after all commandment numero uno strongly implies Muslims are all worshiping a false god, which I understand is a pretty damn big offense. And as far as their religious handbook, well, that only encourages false god worship, right ?

I jest of course, but trying to put this at the media's feet is ridiculous, it's not the media, it's the clowns who pretend their beliefs are more important than another's.

Down the tubes...

Another Internet driven hate story...
Toss in some Fox and Murdoch X-files...
And ta-da:

This week's two minute hate gets its 15 minutes
And arcs upward like a solar flare.

Get your hate on everyone...

"It's reached the point that the FBI fears violent retaliation in response to book-burning event.
This really isn't healthy."

A violent reaction to a book burning event? Umm, let's see, we've still got 50,000 troops in Iraq, a war in Afghanistan, a de facto war in Yemen, drones killing daily in at least 3 Muslim nations, and oh yeah, Guantanamo and Bagram are still open and functioning. And a book burning by an idiotic neanderthal in a small rural community, obscene and stupid as it is, is what's provoking fears of "violent retaliation"?

Yes, I agree, this isn't healthy at all....

Sorry, folks, you're looking at this story with 20th Century eyes.

To a degree, I agree with this. The media aren't gatekeepers anymore and so this "story" would get out regardless.

However, McClatchy had a story today about how Fred Phelps's daughter is put out because her old man has been burning Korans for years and no one from the media gives them any attention.

Did you know that the Phelps clan burned Korans? I did, but then I pay an inordinate amount of attention to what they do. I doubt many people knew it.

And that's the criticism. It isn't that the media should try to shut it up - it's that these fools down in Florida (a congregation of 50 people) aren't functionally different than the whack-jobs in the Phelps clan. And yet everyone knows that the Phelps clan are fringe whackos and won't give them the time of day but they'll rush to interview a different delusional whacko just because, I don't know, because they need people to watch their network or something.

Delusional pastor of a tiny church burning Korans isn't news. Delusional pastor of a tiny church burning Bibles is barely news (remember that whack-job pastor last year who burned a stack of bibles because they weren't in the King James Version that God handed down to Moses?). And yet the media has chosen to treat this story as a serious one.

That's the problem - the priorities are screwed up. This "story" barely deserves a mention and yet they're treating it seriously. This is the kind of story that at best deserves a YouTube video and a couple of blog posts, not a full blown interview by MSNBC.

To me, this story is all about the traditional media asserting its power to remind everyone that they still have ultimate control over the narrative. I can't imagine responsible people deciding to cover this story on its merits-it has none. It's being covered in a desperate attempt to hang on to some last shred of relevancy.

I forget- how did the cell phone photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Garaib (sp) go from 'pranks we share with friends' to International Firestorm? And how long did it take?

Perhaps a media-saavy response to a media-saavy preacher is what's called for?

I'm thinking a call to the local Fire Marshall might make it possible to get some great footage of a high-pressure fire hose knocking Pastor Jones on his keister? I seem to recall a story from weeks ago about how Jones has no permit for this bonfire. Seems like any responsible civil servant should be concerned about such a fire hazard, and prepared to combat acts of arson, right?

Would covering Jones in fire-suppressant foam be a better visual? We should ask MSNBC what shows up better on camera.

Considering the almost universal condemnation of these vile people led by an even more distastefull and vile dung flinger, I think the coverage of this event points out the basic goodness of even the most contentious political adversaries. They've almost all come out against these loonies.

TGAURepublic website has some startling news about this 'pastor'--he led a radical church in Germany, but was booted out for financial irregularities.

But the story continued to bubble.

Let me guess: Kurtz means, but isn't willing to say straight out, that right-wing blogs flogged the story.

A tiny church that can't pay its mortgage, but can afford to buy Korans to burn?

"For some of us, it's a reminder of one of the geniuses from Monty Python."

I know Monty Python and believe me, this is no Monty Python.

Can we just call this the Palinization Effect. A bigoted, publicity seeking,polarizing,ignorant know nothing, has successfully diverted the media attention away from substantive issues to focus on more hate and fearmongering.

Besides the world officials noted, Christian religious leaders including the theologically liberal National Council of Churches and the theologically conservative National Association of Evangelicals have condemned this publicity stunt. I resent that this man is being taken to represent American Christianity just as much as my Muslim friends resent that those who forced the planes into the WTC represent all of Islam.

The conflation of sixties era anti indiscriminate wholesale slaughter of bamboo grass , water and mud rice farmers street theater , with an apparently insane pastor who mistakes hate for gods love .
Fail

revchicoucc on September 9, 2010 at 11:55 AM

Well said .

See, conservatives? This is evidence that Hillary Clinton does not control the liberal media.

If she did, she could have just asked cable shows to shut up about this.

I watched it yesterday and after the 2nd or 3rd repeat, I changed the channel. Especially after SoS Clinton asked news orgs to use some common sense. Yup, way to go MSNBC.

The FBI fears violent retaliation? Wow, that's even better footage than a plain old book burning. Think of how many more people will be watching CNN, MSNBC, or FOX!

Of course, I'm not suggesting that yellow journalists hype up minor controversies to inflame readers' passions and thereby get more money. I'm stating it straight out.

i dunno...i'm more of a "you gotta kick over the rocks to see the cockroaches" type

While I'm against the notion of this guy being given time on live television in the first place, I agree that we have to look at the media frenzy through 21st Century eyes.

Of course the real story here is not so much the burning of the Q'uran, but the rest of the world's reaction to it. In that sense Terry Jones' stunt is similar to starvation in Ethiopia. If we didn't know about either one through media coverage, would we ever be moved to do anything about them?

Of course, the difference here is that we have a somewhat unpredictable but radicalized right wing that's been fed a steady diet of anti-Muslim rhetoric for months now. I am far more worried about what acts the gun-toting, Muslim-hating American rednecks will be inspired to do than I am about what Iraqis or Pakistanis will do.

I am hopeful that, with the avalanche of American disgust with the Right Reverend Attention Hound, Islamic "retaliations" will be held to a minimum. This, above all else, would be Jones' undoing.

Worse than the undue attention the news media are giving this little publicity stunt are the gratuitous and cowardly statements issuing from General Petraeus, Secretary of State Clinton, and President Obama himself.

It's time to stop bemoaning the pastor's bonfire of Koranity as an insult to a great religion, and to start defending it as an exercise in free speech. So what if Muslims who take their religion too seriously retaliate by burning Bibles or attempting to murder Americans? Are we going to give the Mullahs a heckler's veto?

If we want to protect our soldiers in Afghanistan, bringing them home makes a lot more sense than training a firehose on an exercise of our constitutional rights that's being held in the United States.

My guess is this independent minister whose wife is reported to own resort property isn't paying all his taxes. Maybe he should get a federal tax audit as a reward for this publicity stunt. But hey this is America - you can burn a flag, burn a Bible, burn the Koran, burn a stack of Beatles LPs (as a sixty-year-old I can remember this).

Why not have an aerial shot of an airplane dropping fire retardant on to the bonfire?

We could also have photos and videos of 1,000s of National Guard troops encircling the college football game down the street in Gainesville.

Man, we have a Hollywood event coming up.

Face it, we're hated by a growing segment of the planet.

No amount of defense spending can quench that kind of fire.

Our Predator Drones create more enemies every day!

Perhaps we could suggest that people enter airports and suggest that there may be a bomb on one of the planes. Isn't that an exercise in Free Speech? It MAY endanger people, but it is not certain that it will, so it is protected, right?

"let's see, we've got 50,000 troops in Iraq, a war in Afghanistan, a de facto war in Yemen, drones killing daily in at least 3 Muslim nations, and Guantanamo and Bagram are still open and functioning. And a book burning [...] is what's provoking fears of "violent retaliation"?

The difference is those things you mentioned are now the purview of Obama, and as such can't be mentioned on this site.

Wanna bet this church will be able to pay its mortgage from now on? And watch its membership grow?

This is no different than letting the neo-Nazis in Skokie march, or the KKK. Most of the rest of the world doesn't permit this sort of thing, and maybe we shouldn't allow rallies that are designed only to incite hate and bigotry. Oh, strike that. Then the Rethugs couldn't have any rallies either.

ScottW714 wrote:
I actually find it odd that all Christians aren't lined up behind this idiot, after all commandment numero uno strongly implies Muslims are all worshiping a false god, which I understand is a pretty damn big offense.

Uhhhhh.... the supreme being worshiped by followers of the Islamic superstition set is the same supreme being worshiped by followers of the Christian superstition set, so a so-called Christian could hardly call Allah a false god without denying the validity of his own perverse view of reality.

What we should be asking is: why is sky cake so delicious?

James Connor: It's time to stop bemoaning the pastor's bonfire of Koranity as an insult to a great religion, and to start defending it as an exercise in free speech.

I was disappointed when the anti-war protesters in the 60s burned American flags, but the action was protected free speech. Are we going to deny this pastor the right to burn text that he owns because we fear retaliation? If we do that, our First Amendment freedoms will soon enough be taken away by the people who hate them.

Is there anyone who supports burning the American flag who does not also support burning the Koran? This isn't a massive NAZI-style burning of all books the government doesn't like, but a burning by one man of a copy of a book written by another man.

If mine were the One True Religion, I'd actively encourage burning its Holy Book on the grounds that it just spreads the holiness around.

At least this rather puny incident has forced a good many people to make public stands either for or against it. Hopefully there enough nays, especially from Petraus, and even a half backed one from Palin, that this will diminish the possibility of a similar future acts. Like aggressive demonstrations against Park51.

I actually find it odd that all Christians aren't lined up behind this idiot, after all commandment numero uno strongly implies Muslims are all worshiping a false god, which I understand is a pretty damn big offense.

Wrong!

The Abrahamic God is the same across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Some of us Christians aren't ignorant of this fact, and even know that if you go to a Christian church with services in Arabic, you will pray to Allah, because that's "God" in that language, as "Dieu" is in French, and "Dio" is in Spanish.

Some of also don't believe that all non-Christians will burn in Hell. Crazy, huh?

You could, in fact,consign Pastor Jones to Fred Phelps oblivion--IF America and its media hadn't turned on the Park51 mosque folks and said that, though they are of course within their rights, they should be sensitive about all this.
Having more or less officially applied this criterion, the Gainesville auto-da-fé becomes relevant. As does the cabbie slashing--though that seemed to get quashed.
If the story is some nut burning Qurans, it could be dealt with--but it's the story of America en masse resisting a genuine act of outreach and tolerance on the part of Muslims, while Christians slash Muslim cabdrivers and Christian churches burn Qurans.
If America were acting like the land of religious freedom it claims to be, it could and would be marginalized.
But we've changed the rules.

Bart: [low voice] Hold it! Next man makes a move, the n****r Quran gets it!
Olson Johnson: Hold it, men. He's not bluffing.
Dr. Sam Johnson: Listen to him, men. He's just crazy enough to do it!

It is really sad that US foreign policy can now be disrupted, put on it's heels, by any idiot with a fire permit and a pile of books.

I wonder if you could do this with a Kindle ?