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Why does the media focus on looting?

Travis said:
This is something that always bugs me. Once again our nation's police murder someone and a city rises up against them. But all the media wants to talk about are looted stores. That's like covering the Warsaw uprising and only talking about how much it will cost to clean up all the bricks laying scattered about.

Is the media just lazy here or is this part of an agenda?
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Maybe because the media has already reported all of the available information about the original event (the police killing). No new information about that event has become available, therefore nothing new to report.

Maybe because the message of the protests was reported on when (or even before) the protests began. That message has not changed and the actual protesters aren't doing or saying anything different than they were at the start, therefore nothing new to report.

News reporting is a business. They don't draw readers/viewers by repeating the same information over and over. Therefore they focus on the developing stories where new things are happening.

The riots and destruction are news that affect people both locally and nationally. Locally, regardless of underlying reasons, riots and looting affect people's daily lives. Nationally, it affects travel, business, entertainment (baseball) and concern about friends and relatives in the area. It's news. Protests also can affect some of these things, but not nearly to the extent of damage, destruction and violence.

And every story I've read about the looting refers to the protests and the underlying issue that sparked the situation.

That said, there is a place for stories on police/race relations. Such a story would probably be broad in scope and be more of an investigative piece. this is more of a 20/20 or Time magazine thing than a breaking news piece.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Because as we learned after Katrina it is something only black people do, and how else are we supposed to feel superior?

White people merely find things they need in stores, blacks loot what they want from stores.
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Explain the IMO idiot yesterday hauling a 24 roll pack of toilet paper from the CVS.

I understand if you're running low, grab some TP on the way out. But,unless that was the smallest package left, that was just a stupid choice. :p
 
ponderingturtle said:
Because as we learned after Katrina it is something only black people do, and how else are we supposed to feel superior?

White people merely find things they need in stores, blacks loot what they want from stores.
Click to expand...

off topic, but you are aware that find/loot red herring has been thoroughly debunked.

By the way, if you have any video of white folks finding/looting in b'more this week, by all mean post it here.
 
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ponderingturtle said:
Because as we learned after Katrina it is something only black people do, and how else are we supposed to feel superior?

White people merely find things they need in stores, blacks loot what they want from stores.
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Black people, as proposed by a comedian I stole the line from but whose name I cannot recall, should take a cue from history. "Discover" things... like the explorers and colonists did with The Americas. When they stop you with a PS3 climbing through a broken window, "Whoa! I'm not stealing this. I discovered it!"
 
The media pushed this story hard before any rioting took place.
 
16.5 said:
That red herring sure has, read all the way to the bottom of that article.
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What actual red herring are we discussing? I read the entire article, and at the bottom the author defended his choice of the word "find". That doesn't prove there wasn't some (possibly subconscious) racism involved.
 
Travis said:
This is something that always bugs me. Once again our nation's police murder someone and a city rises up against them. But all the media wants to talk about are looted stores. That's like covering the Warsaw uprising and only talking about how much it will cost to clean up all the bricks laying scattered about.

Is the media just lazy here or is this part of an agenda?
Click to expand...


I find the comparasion between the rioters in Baltimore and the Warsaw Ghetto uprising to be offensive. And just an example of someone who has a deep seated grudge agains the police regardless of circumstances.
 
CynicalSkeptic said:
What actual red herring are we discussing? I read the entire article, and at the bottom the author defended his choice of the word "find". That doesn't prove there wasn't some (possibly subconscious) racism involved.
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They were taken by two different photographers, who both provided detailed explanations for exactly why they INDEPENDENTLY captioned the photographs as they did.
 
Why do the looters focus on looting?
This is something that always bugs me. Once again our nation's police murder someone and a city rises up against them. But all the looters want to do are loot stores. That's like taking part in the Warsaw uprising and only stealing supplies from the Polish resistance.

Are the looters just lazy here or is this part of an agenda?
 
Ziggurat said:
Why do the looters focus on looting?
This is something that always bugs me. Once again our nation's police murder someone and a city rises up against them. But all the looters want to do are loot stores. That's like taking part in the Warsaw uprising and only stealing supplies from the Polish resistance.

Are the looters just lazy here or is this part of an agenda?
Click to expand...
For the most part, I think they are criminals who are taking advantage of the situation to do their "job" in the comfort and company of fellow criminals.
 
16.5 said:
They were taken by two different photographers, who both provided detailed explanations for exactly why they INDEPENDENTLY captioned the photographs as they did.
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You answered a strawman question. Probably because you couldn't answer the one asked.
 
The reason is that rioting indicates social breakdown and chaos, the failure of the rule of law and anarchy. The average law abiding citizen, middle class or working class, should rightly fear these things. I have lived in places as this began to happen and it is scary as hell.
 
Because the "news" of his death is about 10 days old and largely local in nature.
 
As long as there are people who are willing to take advantage of chaos by ramping it up a notch, this will always happen.
The same attitude on the part of those who these riots are in support of:
"I'm gonna do what I want to and you're not gonna do **** about stopping me."
 
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