The headline on the Comcast homepage: “FBI Warns of Possible Terrorist Attack.”
The headline of the actual article (um, in Sports): “FBI Warns of Possible NCAA Tourney Threat.”
The very first sentence:
“WASHINGTON – The FBI said Friday there is no specific, credible threat of a terror attack…”
BUT, they did quietly acknowledge to local law enforcement that a bunch of people in one place for a sporting event are theoretically vulnerable–i.e., they did their damn jobs–so we decided to dress it up with a scary headline and call it news. Even if the only information we can get from an actual FBI-type person is, “Nope! No threat!” and “We’re pretty much just doing our damn jobs.” (I paraphrase.)
I don’t even know where to direct my frustration first. At the AP writer who wrote the most news-free story since “Plane Carrying Minor Celebrities Makes Pretty Routine Return to Airport“? At whoever then decided that story was worth sending out? Or at the Comcast folks who decided to go one step further and make it sound as if the FBI’s making a statement to the public about imminent danger, and deem it a “Top Story”? I mean, it’s not like I turn to Comcast for reputable news–when I turn to them at all, it’s usually for “Police Rescue Moose Tangled in Swingset” stories, or the lowdown on the Kelly Clarkson/Simon Cowell feud–but I could hardly avoid clicking on “FBI Warns of Possible Terrorist Attack” when I went to check my webmail today. Which was, of course, the entire point of framing it that way.
This shit is just so disingenuous and irresponsible, it makes me want to scream. And I want to scream more when I think of how many people probably clicked on that link and didn’t feel duped and pissed off–who read the article and went, “Yep, those freedom-hating bastards are plotting to kill my family again. Says so right here.” Every time I see an article like this, I think, “This is why Bush got elected.” And at that point, I’m too depressed to scream.
I did read Furedi’s Culture of Fear this week, btw, which is as good or better than Glassner’s. His thesis is that risk-aversion has become the new morality–the new excuse for wagging fingers and judging neighbors, now that not enough people are worried about Hell–and that this conflation of anxiety with social responsibility means creativity and innovation are pretty much fucked. It’s a damn good point. We’re too busy avoiding danger to experiment. Or, you know, think very hard.
My head hurts. For real, but also metaphorically.
