How the media dealt with domestic terrorism on Capitol Hill

by

The events on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 will be remembered as an act of internal terrorism against the United States; as a national tragedy; and as a real-life manifestation of online radicalization. Here are the key questions addressed on Thursday:

– Is President Trump a danger to the republic? Is he fit to hold office until January 20?

– Will the 25th Amendment be invoked, as called for by a wide range of opinion leaders?

– Will White House aides who resigned, such as Stephanie Grisham and Sarah Matthews, speak publicly? If not, why not?

– How many more White House aides will resign? Will Trump have a spokesman left?

– Will the Murdochs do anything to slow down Fox News’ incendiary programming? What about Newsmax and OAN?

– Will the insurgents move to other DC locations in the coming days?

– Far from Washington, skirmishes took place in several state capitals on Wednesday. Will this continue?

– Ten years from now, what will this disaster be called? The “Trump riots?”

Let’s see now how the nation’s news media covered this embarrassing day, starting with Thursday’s covers. The New York Times he says, in capital letters, “TRUMP INCITES MOB”. The headline of the Washington Post banner he says “Trump’s Mafia Storms Capitol.” The Wall Street Journal he says “MOB STORMS CHAPTER”.

Write for the story

– Peter Baker’s role for the New York Times: “That’s how it ends.”
– Dan Balz’s leadership for the Washington Post: “January 6, 2021, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in U.S. history.”
– Kevin Liptak’s leadership for CNN: “Three years, 11 months and 17 days after President Trump warned from the western front of the United States Capitol that” American carnage stops here, “the place where found was surrounded by its own protesters. own butcher shop “.
– The United States is in a “crisis of reality,” wrote Charlie Warzel, “in which millions of Americans are actively courting violent and radical conspiracies and ideologies to make sense of a world they do not trust.”
– Jake Tapper of CNN he tweeted shortly before midnight: “People, it was a dark day. The president and his facilitators (and those who have lied) continue to try and threaten to destroy the American experiment. But many are backing down and I’m sure it will survive and come out. stronger. Thank you for looking at it and God bless you. “

“Lies have consequences”

This was said on Wednesday by Senator Ben Sasse: “Lies have consequences.” Other members of the reality-based Republican party, such as Adam Kinzinger, also denounced conspiracy theory within his party. But they remained a minority within the Republican Party.

Many Democrats were far more forceful in their repudiation of the political and media climate in which it developed. Bill Clinton said that “the assault was fueled by more than four years of poisonous politics that spread deliberate misinformation, sow distrust in our system, and pit Americans against one another.” Barack Obama called it “a political party and its media ecosystem that accompanies it” because “they largely don’t want to tell their followers the truth” about Biden’s victory. And the next majority leader, Chuck Schumer, denounced Trump along with “the captive media who mourn his lies.”

Riot police were organized online

“They had been openly planning for weeks on both major social media and the pro-Trump Internet,” Jane Lytvynenko and Molly Hensley-Clancy of BuzzFeed News reported. “In forums like The Donald, a niche website formed after Reddit banned the subreddit of the same name, they promised violence against lawmakers, police and journalists if Congress did not reject the results of the 2020 election.”
Some of the riot police broadcast their crimes live, so there is a lot of video evidence. Now the FBI is appealing to the public for information about the riots.

Members of the media were attacked

On Wednesday there were multiple cases of journalists being attacked for riots. Some news teams traveled safely to the country’s capital. In a particularly egregious case, a live shooting site outside the Senate was surrounded by men who endangered information equipment and damaged television equipment. The AP confirmed that some of the dam’s equipment “was stolen and destroyed during today’s violent protests in Washington.”

Stop journalists post

“Two Washington Post video reporters,” said Zoeann Murphy and Whitney Leaming on Wednesday night, who had been arrested during riots at the U.S. Capitol, “wrote Lindsey Ellefson of The Wrap. 18 ha DC exempted members of the media, as all police officers should know. ”Our journalists had just done their job and should never have been arrested. First, we are pleased that the police will release them quickly, “a Post spokesman said.

Notes on cable and transmission coverage

– “The chaos gained momentum at a time when most TV channels focused primarily on the congressional process,” wrote Jeremy Barr and Paul Farhi of The Post in a summary of the day’s coverage. “Many reporters and producers took a long time to realize what was going on and changed their coverage as congressional correspondents became war correspondents, calling the reports while seeking coverage.” At the time, anchors and commentators “rushed to call the behavior of riot police in fierce and direct language, even on Fox News.”

– As the minutes and hours passed, many media stopped saying “protesters” and started saying “riot police” and “mobs”.

– CNN “sent internal advice saying staff may refer to Capitol Hill riots today as” domestic terrorism, “Max Tani reported.

– Former NBC News executive Mark Lukasiewicz, who has been quite critical of his former network and other broadcasters in recent months, expressed “respect and admiration for the work they did and the risks involved. endure today. Journalism has never been more essential. “

– ABC and NBC undid all their early-morning lineups to cover news. CBS initially aired sitcoms at 8 pm Eastern, but then resumed a special CBS News report.

– The sober coverage that makes the dial go up and down makes the programming of Fox prime time talk shows seem even stranger.

The new narrative on the right: Antifa, Antifa, Antifa

If you think Wednesday’s invasion of the Capitol was going to break the fever, think again. “The riots were Antifa” is becoming a standard point of conversation on the far right. From Sarah Palin to Candace Owens, from Laura Ingraham to Lin Wood, many commentators raised the idea that left-wing radicals were responsible for some of the violence that took place on Wednesday. Texas agent Ken Paxton even tweeted, “They’re not Trump supporters.” But, as Ben Collins pointed out, there were in fact recognizable Trump supporters inside the Capitol building. Accusing leftists is just a cynical way of apologizing for what happened and changing the conversation.

What Fox and Newsmax viewers heard

Along with all the excuse for “Antifa,” here’s a sample of what was heard in favor of Trump TV, via Oliver Darcy. Everyone condemned the violence, but then …

– Greg Kelly of Newsmax attacked the media for his coverage, arguing that journalists had been condescending to Trump supporters. Kelly also interviewed Rudy Giuliani, who expressed his disappointment with Mike Pence.

– On Fox, Tucker Carlson seemed to exonerate his audience by what happened: “It’s not your fault, it’s his fault,” he said, continuing with the “us against them” theme of his show.

– Carlson also claimed that Wednesday’s events will be used to “repress” “civil liberties.”

– At Newsmax, at the same time, Grant Stinchfield also criticized the media for not buying conspiracy theories against election fraud.

– Sean Hannity continued to lie about the election, obsessed with election fraud, and focused on the fact that the Capitol complex needs more security. His guests complained about the left-wing mafia and said Republicans have a double standard.

– Laura Ingraham, who mocked those who said Black Lives Matter riots were mostly peaceful, noted that most DC people were peaceful, but “because of a small contingent of lightning, these patriots have unjustly insulting. ” “

Notes and budgets

– Stephen Colbert went live on CBS on Wednesday night and began his show by asking, “Hey, Republicans who supported this president … do you have enough?”

– Daniel D’Addario of Variety: “Despite all that Trump’s use of social media has been announced, he was and still is a creature of television, and today television surpassed him, counterpointing images violent and disturbing that the American people could judge for themselves in Trump’s own words. “
– James Poniewozik, New York Times television critic: As the riot unfolded, “everyone knew he was watching. They would have known even if he hadn’t announced it. Donald Trump has been an obsessed observer of coverage. own television. presidency, for hours a day. Of course, I would be hooked on his next act. “

.Source