Does the government use Missing White Woman Syndrome to distract us from their political movements?

Vorpy

This Casey Anthony thing popped up at a weird time now that I think about it, wasn't there something going on in congress that people really didn't like? A bill or something?

Chagen

I have no idea why MWWS exists. White people happen to get on the news. It doesn't mean that there's a minority-opressing conspiracy about.

inkblot

Try military action in Libya that may or may not be illegal.

Malkavian

It's not an active conspiracy, but it is a nasty case of left-over racism and classism spilling into modern society through highly influential outlets.

In any case, MWWS is only one among many tactics both sides use to distract from political movements. Remember the whole debacle about the Muslim Community Center being built in New York City? Wonder why you're not hearing about it anymore?

Chagen

"Remember the whole debacle about the Muslim Community Center being built in New York City? Wonder why you're not hearing about it anymore?"

....Because people stopped giving a damn about it?

Vorpy

Steven Colbert...you warned us that the Mosque was a distraction...why didn't I listen to you?

Malkavian

^^Because it stopped being useful to media outlets, actually.

BlackHumor

@Chagen: But why did they stop giving a damn about it? If the people who originally made the fuss really cared that much about it, they should still be making a fuss now.

But no, they said a few things and there was a lot of back and forth and then it just... stopped. No obvious reason WHY it stopped; the community center is still perfectly on track.

Vivi

It's true, the media does make us focus on things to keep us uneducated and distracted.

Vorpy

I remember the whole "MICHEAL JACKSON IS DEAD" thing going on, and immediately that same day, the Patriot Act was being evaluated too...

Vivi

Huh....With the libya stuff and the gay marriage stuff, this came at the perfect time.

4th of July too.

inkblot

^^^ "Make us"? If people cared, they'd change the channel.

Malkavian

The media controls what we have access to, dude.

Icalasari

...I'm starting to believe those conspiracy theorists!

Chagen

Malk: Not with the internet around.

The media doesn't promote White Nationlism, that doesn't stop Stormfront from having a disturbingly large amount of members.

Malkavian

Yeah, and how many people do you know that actively look for alternate stories? Even if they did, most bloggers and alt media sites still report on the big stories in hopes of getting more hits. The fact remains that if Fox, MSNBC, or CNN report on it, more people are going to hear about it.

glennmagusharvey

> This Casey Anthony thing popped up at a weird time now that I think
about it, wasn't there something going on in congress that people really
didn't like? A bill or something?

There's ALWAYS a bill going through Congress that people really don't like.

Not to mention that thinking of "the government" as a monolithic block is almost completely wrong these days because Congress has lately been really polarized.

Vorpy

Not to mention that thinking of "the government" as a monolithic block
is almost completely wrong these days because Congress has lately been
really polarized.

not really

BlackHumor

Well, it's always been wrong to think of the government as a monolithic block, but it's not particularly wrong now.

┻━┻ ︵ ヽ(`Д´）╯︵ ┻━┻

Remember the whole debacle about the Muslim Community Center being built in New York City?

-never heard about it before in the first place- (or I just didn't care about it enough when it did reach my ears because...well it isn't something I pay attention to)

I also didn't hear about 9/11 until 2007.

Vorpy

I didn't hear about 9/11 until 2 years ago.

MillerCross

You gotta be kidding me, man.

IanExMachina

Yes I think governments do.

From 2002 on the BBC:

"Ms Moore had faced widespread calls for her to quit since sending an e-mail as New York's twin towers burned, suggesting that 11 September was a good day to "bury" bad news."

GLORIOUSLeader

Oh Britain. 

DonZabu

And this is why I don't watch the news.

Malkavian

What, did you think America invaded Afghanistan because it talked smack about our mommas?

GLORIOUSLeader

Yes. To be fair, yo mamma's so fat she got the tali... ban...

Goddamit. Just when you think an easy joke lies ahead, Sgt. Pun comes along to kill it. 

Vorpy

GLORIOUSLeader

I wonder if anybody actually understood the joke I made in that post above. Hint: Google. 

Bee

Inundating news outlets with Shit That Nobody Cares About when making particularly questionable decisions is hardly anything new.  If you're interested in politics, do research, don't wait for people who are paid to have opinions to vomit them on your shoes.

glennmagusharvey

^ In other words, listen to everyone, but trust no one.