The Real Failure in Ferguson

Monderno recently published an op-ed by Aaron Cowan of Sage Dynamics about the ongoing quagmire that is Ferguson, MO. Additional information has developed since this article's publication, including the mobilization of the Missouri National Guard, evidence to suggest the officer involved suffered injury to his head, a possible change of story on the part of at least one “key witness” and word that a PSC called Asymmetric Solutions may have been hired by DHS to provide security to someone in the immediate AO…however, given the horrible way the media has covered this thing from every side we really don't know exactly what is going on – and that is precisely one Aaron's points.

“The failure is that the media frenzy ignores the civil unrest and threat to life and property in order to spin more ratings, more violence and more story.  Like it or not, their focus becomes ours.  Let’s not talk about the officers on the line dodging bottles of flammable liquid or worrying about random shots fired from a massed crowd.  Let’s not talk about store owners being looted, people being beaten and all the other crimes taking place that have absolutely nothing to do with the shooting death of Brown, let’s not talk about the government failure to control the problem out of what I can only imagine is fear that the media will cover any attempt at positive control in a negative and draconian way.

Instead, let’s focus on what officers are wearing, what they drove up in and what weapons they are using to not shoot at or kill anyone.  The hands of law enforcement in Ferguson have been effectively tied by the media and the mob mentality; we are literally witnessing media-driven law enforcement…

…A healthy distrust of government is as American as America, it’s part of who we are and should always be, but what does no one any good is trying to fix symptoms of a problem by blanketing that distrust across an entire profession and ignoring the systemic problem of media driven opinion for the sake of a story.  As citizens we usually have the luxury of opinion without the duty of thought.  We can come to a conclusion and choose a side without any solid time spent on figuring out which side is right, we just choose the one that most aligns with our sensibilities and take to the internet to defend it; our readiness to behave like this continues to fuel the media’s ability to pump out low-information news and amplify the problem.”

Do me a favor – don't read the headline and respond. Don't read just the excerpt and respond. Don't respond to what you think you know based on what's on the big media channels. Read the article and agree or disagree we'll have a great and potentially beneficial discussion. Sorting this sort of thing out can only benefit all of us.

Read the original story in its entirety here.

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