Look what happens when just once sentence is added to the introduction of a news package. On Special Report with Brit Hume, Richard Engel, sitting in, introduces the second package, the one that will cover what was said by the members of Congress, by noting that the massive amounts of television coverage, including gavel to gavel coverage on all three cable channels, means the "possibilities for theatrics and showboating" were limitless. By adding that sentence, Fox is able to then pull the most extreme of the soundbites, the ones that really hammer Rumsfeld, because they're suddenly framed not as the far end of the argument spectrum, but rather as egregious displays of folks trying to make themselves really, really stand out for the camera.
Also in that piece, as with the other networks, it's noted that Rumsfeld's testimony was interrupted by protesters. But Fox adds the detail that the Committee Chair, Senator Warner, allowed the protesters to go on for a bit before he called for the protesters to be removed, then proceeded to speculate: was Warner doing this to put Rumsfeld on notice he was there to take his medicine?
The other networks played many of the same soundbites from the same Senators, but by not framing those quotes with the line about "theatrics and showboating," those quotes instead become identifying markers for the range of argument out in the public and political sphere today.
Update: Well, look at this. Mark Dayton (D-Ohio) is suddenly on Hardball. I watch that show almost every night, Today almost every morning, the Sunday shows almost every week. I've never heard of this guy. He throws a big hissy (and on an utterly absurd issue) and suddenly he's getting some premium face time. And so it goes.
Comments