A passenger was shot and killed by a Federal Air Marshall on AA Flt. 924 in Miami today. Here is my interpretation in words of how CNN, MSNBC and Fox News covered the situation.
Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving. Picture of Jet not moving.
Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving.
Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving.
Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving.
Breaking video of luggage. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Breaking video of luggage. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Breaking video of luggage. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving. Breaking video of luggage. Useless facts added. Unreliable witness pontificating. Reporter speculating. Picture of Jet not moving.
And I run out of bandwidth long before they've run out of airtime. Having the tube on in the background while working I've been treated in the last month or two to similar, lengthy "reports" of airplanes with landing gear problems circling endlessly (seen and not seen), construction workers (seen and not seen) with aerial-related problems, damns in imminent danger that never break, traffic jams due to tunnels shut down due to "specific" threats, unconcerned New Yorkers go about their business while their very lives are about to be blown to hell by a very specific threat, teens sitting in cars while cops eat donuts and on, and on and on... Meanwhile, in Baghdad today, 100 Iraqi policemen were killed in a massive explosion; we'll try and get video later, if we can...
I am not trying to trivialize the plight of this poor man who was killed, but I do think that 24 hour news, by it's very nature, trivializes almost everything it touches.