Radicals get better ratings - explaining the silencing of the moderates
Hate is great…
…ratings that is.
There’s a good reason that tea partiers and anit-islam folks and various other radicals have gotten so much press in the past few months: Craziness is more entertaining than non-craziness.
It’s true. Which headline do you think is the better attention grabber?
Florida preacher urges tolerance on NY mosque
Or
Florida preacher provokes outrage with plan to burn Qurans
It’s also a big problem. The media is driven by ratings, not truth. Glenn Beck brings in tons of money and viewers for Fox News so who the heck cares what he says? You don’t kill the golden goose without a damned good reason.
There’s no room for middle of the road folks anymore.
Whether it be in the White House or the House of Representatives or the House of God, it’s all about picking a side. If you like a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B you are dismissed, ostracized and told to make a definitive decision or hit the bricks.
But more than posing a political problem, it poses an exposure problem. The media is teaching us that the best way to get face time and get a message out there is to make it as extreme and crazy as possible. The Koran burning church in Florida has only FIFTY members and a few months ago no one knew who they were. Now Terry Jones is an international media figure. You might think the man is a nutcase, but you really can’t argue he played the media like a fiddle and came out with a ton of exposure because of it.
Someone with a more neutral viewpoint wouldn’t have had a chance. Consider this example: Do you think Fox News would ever show pictures of Christians and Muslims talking peacefully? Or do you think they’ll show the latest Tea Party event followed by the latest rioting in the middle east?
According to the media, there is no middle ground, there are no common threads. There is only conflict and the only thing that matters is what side you’re on. It’s a divisive, counterproductive approach that does far more harm than good.
But it’s not going to stop anytime soon and that’s bad news for folks out there who aren’t so quick to resort to hate and violence. They have no voices anymore, there is no one to speak for them.
Someone must break the silence…before it’s too late.