Crying Fowl

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? This logical conundrum has mystified humans for centuries. Logic says that this question is unanswerable, like where does a circle begin, or how can Trump supporters really believe that shit?

Science, however claims to have an answer. It says that once upon a time an almost, but not quite genetically formed chicken had unprotected sex with an almost but not quite genetically formed rooster. The result was a mix of their proto-chicken genes. So, after mama had her proto-epidural, the first chicken egg was formed. This, science says, resolves the problem – the egg came first.

I mention this because this centuries-old mystery compares to one that we now face – which comes first, the riot or the media coverage?

Of course, it is not that the media has caused the social circumstances that have triggered the recent racial upheavals. The media did not kneel on George Floyd’s neck. The media did not grab a pistol instead of a taser and kill Daunte Wright. What the media did was focus its internationally wide lens on the more dramatic, violent parts of the aftermath of those events. And they did that for ratings, for money. Had they focused on the mostly peaceful part of the protests instead of the limited violent parts their ratings would have submerged and their profits would have followed.

So, what we are told and shown is:

“The city is aflame again tonight as stores are looted and set on fire by protestors irate over the recent police shooting.” (accompanied by videos of stores burning and people carrying tv’s on the streets.)

Instead, we could have been told and shown:

“People have taken to the streets to protest the police shootings. The crowds are mostly peaceful with some limited destructive actions” (accompanied by videos showing the marchers).

This reporting priority is destructive in two ways. First, it creates the misimpression that the dominant part of the  protests is pernicious, that the reason for the protests is so that the protestors can destroy unfortunate local businesses. 

But more than that, those pictures incentivize the few violent members of the crowd. Who doesn’t want to be on the international news? My God, if I loot a shoe store, they will see me on all seven continents. I love the shoe anyway. Here I go!

One must appreciate the anger that fuels the violence. However, it is both morally wrong and practically counter-productive to protest police violence with civilian violence. The emphasis on the civilian violence. It gives credence to the undeserved views of those who don’t appreciate the reasons for the anger and who want the protests to be senseless. 

So, which comes first, the protests or the media coverage? Temporally, it is the protests. But, like the chicken and egg, that doesn’t answer the question. In the case of the chicken, it is what the combination of the two loving fowl create. Similarly, in the protests and media, it is what the combination of those two also create. 

Our reality is what we see. What we see when those horny chickens show their lust is the egg. Thanks to the media and its fiscal priority on ratings, what we see when the protesters show their grievance is the violence. 

Wouldn’t it be a better world if our reality did not depend on television ratings?

(P.S. My Editor, who is my wife, rating this “Eggcelent”)