Press Amnesia and the Insurrection

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Top Story: Grade = F to the American media for insurrection amnesia.

Wait, did I dream the insurrection?

Judging from the limited coverage last week, it would be understandable for at least some American media consumers to forget our democracy almost came crashing down on Jan 6, a mere three years ago. And the threat has not, in fact, gone away.

Everyone from the folks at The Media & Democracy Project, tell-it-like-it-is pundit Molly Jong-Fast, and media critic Margaret Sullivan have called it: The American press failed us last week.  

Surveys are showing that Americans are less and less perturbed by the insurrection. It seems, sadly, that much of the supposed mainstream media has decided to follow, rather than lead us further into their denial.

At a time when the nation is fighting a worrisome disinformation wave; that’s journalistic negligence.

To make matters, worse, many reputable media outlets that are covering insurrection denial are reporting on it as a viable side, as if they were covering whether or not the sky was blue, Manhattan is an island or Biden is president.

Bad actors include:

The New York Times, for not covering the insurrection on its January 6th front page.

The AP for a story that’s hed read: One attack, two interpretations: Biden and Trump both make the Jan. 6 riot a political rallying cry.

The Greensboro News & Record, for featuring dueling editorials about whether or not an insurrection actually happened.

Screenshot of Opinion page of newspaper on Jan. 6, 2024

A few news outlets bucked the trend.

1. The Washington Post, which has published several articles and opinion pieces about insurrection denial and why it is so dangerous.

2. The Cincinnati Enquirer for a piece reporting on insurrection indifference, which was accompanied by some of the disturbing footage.

3. George Packer at The Atlantic for asking an important question:  Can for-profit journalism still do its job?

4. Al Jazeera for a story about Jan 6 that led with:

   Shattered glass. Clashes with police. Angry protesters scaling walls outside the United States Capitol.

   The images from the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, remain some of the most memorable in modern political history. That day saw thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump storm the building in an effort to overturn his election defeat, forcing legislators to flee for safety.

We really wish we’d seen more of that.

__________________________________________________________________

Want to keep the deadly insurrection and future threats to our democracy top of mind?

Here’s some story ideas:

Insurrection Follow-Ups

The Hometown Truth Wars: How are communities grappling with friends and neighbors who think the insurrection didn’t happen?

Teaching The Insurrection: Are your local schools doing it and how?

When Spreading Lies is Part of Spreading the Gospel:

Are local houses of worship misinforming parishioners about the events on January 6th. Who are they? How are they doing it? And is it working?

We Like

PBS NewsHour for its student guide to Jan 6th.

ALSO IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK  

Political violence is on the rise.

Elise Stefanik “standing by her man.”

The Supreme Court and the insurrection: What are those justices going to do?

2024: Abortion access on the decline.

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Four Hours at the Capitol

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