Before conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk was assassinated, I was exploring media coverage of another violent killing for you. I saw so clearly what I needed to discuss: how the media keeps missing one of its most important roles in covering homicides — quite possibly its single most important role.
Inside news agencies, most people don't even realize this. An obsession with politics clouds over everything, preventing consideration of what’s most important for you to know.
After Kirk was killed, the same problem went into overdrive. I explain in the new episode. It boils down to a key question of whether we're going to move forward as a society or not.
To explain all this, I discuss coverage of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was killed by a man with diagnosed schizophrenia on light rail in North Carolina. The case became a political lightning rod, largely for racial reasons. But it left news audiences with no answers or solutions.
I also look at the attempted assassination of author Salman Rushdie when he was speaking on state at the Chautauqua Institute. He describes the moment his attacker rushed him.
“He sprinted up the steps and came at me and I immediately thought, oh, it's actually happening.”
Rushdie was the subject of a fatwa from Iran. Over the years, the Islamic State’s various propaganda groups added more and more money as a reward for his death, reaching several million U.S. dollars. In 2022, the Biden administration sanctioned Iran’s “so-called charitable” foundation that has led the way. (A perfect example of how the media is willing to portray Iran as the bad actor it is — except when it aims to kill Jews. Then, propaganda is “news.”)
Also in this episode:
The massive jump in support for political violence, among Democrats and Republicans. The change since last fall is horrifying.
A line that news agencies use when talking about violence and mental health does not mean what journalists seem to think it means. And it doesn't tackle the important questions.
MSNBC fired analyst Matthew Dowd after Kirk was killed. In context, Dowd’s words are different from what made the rounds on social media. But the incident raises a larger question about how the news handles early reports of gunfire.
The leading study on U.S. political violence shows it’s part of a vicious cycle with antisemitism.
More to come.
JL
P.S. Are you on Instagram? I don’t do social media battles, but I do share content and interact with sane people there. Join me!. Here’s my latest post there, which looks back at a previous episode to help educate Hollywood liars.