The violent insurrection in Washington, D.C. Wednesday was both utterly predictable and unimaginable. My feelings about those events go well beyond the scope of this blog, so instead of laying out my feelings, I’m going to share a variety of responses to how our media responded to these events over the next couple of days.
A lot of us were glued to our TV sets Wednesday
CNN just announced that Wednesday was the network's most-watched day in its history, averaging 9 million viewers from 2:30-6:30 p.m. ET, and 5.2 million for the 24-hour day (3 a.m.-3 a.m. ET).
— A.J. Katz (@ajkatztv) January 7, 2021
Once I realized what was happening a bit after lunch on Wednesday, I was worthless for the rest of the day. I was glued to the various news channels and web sites. Eventually, in the evening, we tried to take a break to watch an old Humphrey Bogart movie, but calls from family kept coming in to bring the discussion back to the riots.
Wednesday was a really tough day for journalists
Journalists worked very hard Wednesday in a hostile environment where the rioters were actively threatening members of the media. UNK grad and award-winning Washington Post food writer had this to say about the work of his colleagues covering the rioting and attacks at the capitol:
In the past two days, dozens of @washingtonpost reporters, photographers, videographers, editors, designers and others have shown why they are world-class journalists, all working under extreme pressure, impossible deadlines and sometimes personal threats. Thank you, thank you.
— Tim Carman (@timcarman) January 7, 2021
These threats and attacks are nothing new.
Paul Gillespie, one of the survivors of the Annapolis Capital Gazette massacre in 2018, sent out this thread in memory of his fallen colleagues yesterday.
I survived a murderous newsroom shooting in 2018, losing five of my Capital Gazette family. their families destroyed. My head was nearly shot off, multiple slugs missing by a fraction of an inch. This stuff makes me sick. We're your neighbors, family and friends doing our best. https://t.co/oeLPuwMisC
— Paul W. Gillespie (@pwgphoto) January 7, 2021
What does the aftermath of Wednesday’s insurrection look like in the Capitol building?
Some incredible photography in this thread from NBC News correspondent Leigh Ann Caldwell. (Goes on much longer than what I included here.) This was vandalism on a massive scale.
And this is where the woman was shot. These are the doors to get into the “Speaker’s Lobby” off the House chamber. Three pains of glass missing. One is shattered. Shards of glass remain on the floor pic.twitter.com/Fjwde0pJjo
— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) January 7, 2021
Fox News didn’t quite know how to handle this story
As CNN media reporter Brian Stelter pointed out in his book Hoax, Fox News comes (sometimes) in two different flavors. At night, when it gets by far its biggest audiences, is when the opinion hosts are on. They are able to talk about and say pretty much anything they want as long as they keep drawing an audience. They aren’t required to back up anything they say with evidence. After all, they are just giving their opinions. (Even if they are making false factual claims.) This is what it looked like on Fox Wednesday night.
Fox News at night https://t.co/oGFMOTuAfy
— RalphIsNow@rhanson40@threads.net (@ralphehanson) January 7, 2021
Then on Thursday morning, the more news oriented shows come on that more nearly match the model that Fox claims to follow – a right-leaning approach to straight news. (Though the show Fox and Friends has some strong elements of the evening programing and used to be President Trump’s favorite show.)
Fox News in the morning on one of President Trump’s favorite shows. https://t.co/gin2JJU3js
— RalphIsNow@rhanson40@threads.net (@ralphehanson) January 7, 2021
Tomorrow – Personal stories from journalists who covered Wednesday’s violence and how journalists knew about the potential for violence in advance.