Broadcasting giant Rush Limbaugh passed away at the age of 70 on Wednesday morning, and the media coverage, when compared to the death of an Iranian military leader (and others), is now under a “journalism” spotlight:
Thread on the difference in coverage between the deaths of Rush Limbaugh and Qassam Suleimani.
Who do you think got the more positive obituaries from the American media? https://t.co/zsqC4aortP
— Alex Kaufmann (@alexkaufmann) February 19, 2021
Who got more positive media headlines? You probably already know the answer, but @DrewHolden360 sifted through plenty of media hackery to provide some examples:
?Thread?
A lot of media outlets are more comfortable extending charity to terrorists than conservatives when they leave this life.
The passing of Rush Limbaugh was the latest reminder. If you don’t believe me, look how his obits stack up to Iranian butcher Qasem Soleimani.⤵️
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
The New York Times can always be counted on for an interesting “compare & contrast”:
I ask this earnestly:
If your only exposure to each man was @nytimes’s respective obituaries, would you rather be Rush “divisive style of mockery, grievance and denigrating language” Limbaugh or Qassim “master of Iran’s intrigue” Suleimani? pic.twitter.com/l5h0iVdFJe
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
Reuters too:
It would be one thing if this were just one outlet with an off-color and confrontational obit.
But it wasn’t. I mean. Cmon, @Reuters.
Limbaugh gets distilled down to a “Trump ally” but Soleimani “sought stability” pic.twitter.com/tdecG3TQi8
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
Time Mag also had to get in on the action:
This from @TIME is…something. pic.twitter.com/fSmqwHNt2m
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
Oh. My. GOD. *Facepalm*
And there are so many more:
And it would be wrong not to revisit this @washingtonpost classic (albeit involving a different terrorist). pic.twitter.com/jocoYHG1XO
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
We’d almost forgotten about the WaPo’s infamous “austere religious scholar” obituary.
NBC News brings it back to Limbaugh vs. Soleimani:
@NBCNews seems a lot more comfortable with the idea that an Iranian military leader responsible for the deaths of American troops might be morally complicated (he fought ISIS!) than Limbaugh (“long history of sexist, homophobic and racist remarks”) pic.twitter.com/d9jhvlZxPK
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
L.A. Times, do your stuff!
I think we can agree that this from @latimes isn’t quite the height of charity.
When Soleimani was killed, we got live updates on his funeral. pic.twitter.com/FTO2raAMN5
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
And HuffPost? You just knew they could be counted on:
The more – ahem – partisan outlets also haven’t exactly held back.
Here we have @HuffPost. Limbaugh is the “bigoted king of talk radio” whereas Soleimani was “a figure of national resilience in the face of four decades of U.S. pressure” pic.twitter.com/48XWn6eEwv
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
The list goes on…
@esquire is the picture of class and grace, as always.
Also, while I’m sympathetic to the framing about those who led us into Iraq, it is interesting to reflect on the fact that the promised war with Iran never actually happened. pic.twitter.com/u3ycKksUXq
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
Never change, @Slate. pic.twitter.com/Id0oM6PrJv
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
What has happened to @newrepublic continues to be a tragedy. pic.twitter.com/8zPGzL53gO
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
None of this is totally unexpected, however.
The way we talk about the dead matters. Grave dancing leaves a bad taste in peoples’ mouths because, for a long time, we had all kindof agreed that speaking ill of the dead (who can no longer defend themselves) was uncouth.
Apparently, that consensus is gone.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
This isn’t meant to be a hagiography of Limbaugh.
But surely the man isn’t as bad as a terrorist, right?
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 19, 2021
Obviously the answer to that depends on which member of the mainstream media you ask!
Oh man, this is good thread. https://t.co/EMGvKuJ4ti
— kaitlin, holy RINO batman (@thefactualprep) February 19, 2021
What propaganda? I present this thread: https://t.co/Q2wH41ouls
— Lady Patriot, Marxism-Slayer on Lists ?? (@PatriotGirl74) February 19, 2021
Drew’s thread on coverage of Rush:
— Anna James Zeigler (@ajzeigler) February 19, 2021
Hoo boy! Here’s @DrewHolden360 with another astonishing thread. https://t.co/KPv36rh02E
— Julie Gunlock (@JGunlock) February 19, 2021
This is amazing. https://t.co/H1t8yyNY8J
— John (@CrackerJackND) February 19, 2021
The news media is the worst institution in the US.
"Enemy of the People" is too kind. https://t.co/FBj8GUNN9h
— Heimish Conservative (@HeimishCon) February 19, 2021
Remember, some in our media flew newsrooms over there to cover Soleimani's funeral. It was unreal. https://t.co/tO4Miuu0kD
— Kris Kinder (@kris_kinder) February 19, 2021
And yet the media wondered why Trump’s criticisms resonated with so many? Unbelievable.
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