Satirical rally puts spotlight on media coverage
With Glen Beck and Jon Stewart leading rallies, is the U.S.
heading toward personality
media? This weekend’s Rally
to Restore Sanity left some journalists scratching their heads about how to
cover the event. Spying a mainstream media
meltdown, the liberal-leaning PoliticsUSA blog posted clips of network
journalists trying to figure out what to call the thing. National Public Radio decided it was a
partisan political gathering, and forbade its
reporters from taking part. Meanwhile, the New York Times‘ Brian Stelter
saw the rally as media
criticism in action, culminating in Jon Stewart’s speech.
Jeff Jarvis caught the underlying
message: “I must confess that I came away feeling a bit ashamed to be a
member of the media and journalism tribe…We are evil coaches on grade school
playgrounds, making sides and then pitting them against each other.” But let’s
not end Big Issue on a downer. The Huffington Post‘s 100
best signs gallery proves there’s still room for humour in the American
political discourse.
(Huffington Post photo)
With Glen Beck and Jon Stewart leading rallies, is the U.S.
heading toward personality
media? This weekend’s Rally
to Restore Sanity left some journalists scratching their heads about how to
cover the event. Spying a mainstream media
meltdown, the liberal-leaning PoliticsUSA blog posted clips of network
journalists trying to figure out what to call the thing. National Public Radio decided it was a
partisan political gathering, and forbade its
reporters from taking part. Meanwhile, the New York Times‘ Brian Stelter
saw the rally as media
criticism in action, culminating in Jon Stewart’s speech.
Jeff Jarvis caught the underlying
message: “I must confess that I came away feeling a bit ashamed to be a
member of the media and journalism tribe…We are evil coaches on grade school
playgrounds, making sides and then pitting them against each other.” But let’s
not end Big Issue on a downer. The Huffington Post‘s 100
best signs gallery proves there’s still room for humour in the American
political discourse.
(Huffington Post photo)
Patricia W. Elliott is a magazine journalist and assistant professor at the School of Journalism, University of Regina. You can visit her at patriciaelliott.ca.