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| Or Not!! |
It's not exactly a news flash or breaking news, quite the contrary, the "infotainmentalization" of the traditional news model is well known among Americans.
Anytime the who, what and where stories regarding the Kardashians has morphed into breaking news;
or, a cable "news" giant (FOX) devotes an entire segment to debating the skin pigmentation of Santa Claus, we know the nightly news industry has jumped the shark.
But when big events happen, we still muster enough confidence that our media will focus and report the proverbial big picture.
Sadly, the death and funeral of 20th century icon, statesman and beacon-of-hope Nelson Mandela underscored the death of the tradition news model, as we knew it. And has us asking:
Where are the modern day Walter Cronkites?
As Gwen Ifill reports:
Gwen Ifill criticized the media on Thursday for losing "sight of the bigger picture" while reporting on Nelson Mandela's memorial services.
The media has come under fire for focusing on President Obama's selfie, his handshake with Raul Castro and the fake sign language interpreter at the service, instead of actual tributes to Mandela's life. Ifill voiced her disapproval of the coverage in a new post.
"I never cease to marvel how efficiently we can minimize real news – whether it be rare proof that Washington has a little bipartisanship left, or history unfolding on another continent," she wrote. Ifill criticized the media for getting distracted by a "non-story" and called the coverage "foggy."
The PBS host wasn't the only one who was disappointed with the headlines coming out of Mandela's memorial services. Jon Stewart also mocked the media's obsession with Obama's handshake, and other critics sounded off on Twitter. A recent study by Media Matters showed that coverage of the handshake and the selfie overshadowed news about Mandela's legacy on cable news earlier this week. source
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