Chris Hayes makes the case for citizens journalists
I must admit that I was bothered more so than I am normally by the treatment of journalist Rula Jebreal this week by MSNBC. Rula Jebreal went on the Ronan Farrow Daily show and criticized the media coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
As I watched her excoriate the media including MSNBC for pulling Ayman Mohyeldin for reporting real news from Gaza, I wrote a blog post wondering how much longer she would be a commentator. It did not take long. Soon after she wrote the following tweet stating that all her TV appearances were cancelled.
Chris Hayes, in what seemed like an MSNBC act of damage control invited her on one more time mostly to be preached to. It did not work at all. She continued to press her points intelligently even as Chris Hayes tried to defend MSNBC.
Ultimately, the dialogue caused Chris Hayes to reveal two known truths. One cannot criticize a network lest they are banned from future appearances. Secondly only violence and sensationalism are guaranteed some sort of coverage, silent and methodical political discourse and negotiations need not apply.
While the president negotiates with Russia, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Syria, and other countries quietly, our incompetent media allows others to use the airwaves to alarm and misinform. The same applies to negotiations on domestic policies. The traditional media has become a cesspool of misinformation and Chris Hayes provided a window as to why; criticisms disallowed, and sensational stories irrespective of validity reigns.
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Actually these are both points Chris Hayes has touched on previously. He periodically criticizes how the business model of the media warps coverage, and is not above admitting when that or his own interests in particular stories lead to some stories being covered more than others on All In.
I was disappointed with both of them in this interview because they were both guilty of talking past the other. They both brought to the table interesting points that would have been valuable to discuss, but a real discussion never happened. Part of the problem was that there was a difference in the scope of conversation each was trying to have: I believe Chris was wrapping up all media, traditional and newer online sources into his explanation of why it seems Israel is losing media support this time around; while Rula was only focused on traditional network media and imbalance of airtime.
Thank you. You get it. They were talking passed each other. Most importantly it was evident Chris may have brought her on for damage control because he started the segment with a defense of Andrea Mitchell. Throughout he attempted to claim coverage has been better than usual. 100% increase in better coverage that is terrible is still terrible.