What a difference a political philosophy makes when it comes to funeral coverage.
Have you heard a word of complaint from the network anchors that perhaps television is "overcovering" the funeral of Ted Kennedy? Of course not. However, after President Ronald Reagan passed away in 2004, both Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather grumbled aloud about how his funeral was being "overcovered" despite the massive turnout of citizens when he was lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The difference between Kennedy and Reagan, of course, was their political philosphies which explains the vastly different reactions to their funeral coverage. So let us take a trip down memory lane to this Philadelphia Inquirer article written by Gail Shister in June 2004:
Television will go overboard on covering Ronald Reagan's funeral events, say Dan Rather of CBS and Tom Brokaw of NBC. ABC's Peter Jennings isn't so sure.
"They will be overcovered," Rather says. "Even though everybody is respectful and wants to pay homage to the president, life goes on. There is other news, like the reality of Iraq. It got very short shrift this weekend."
Can you imagine Dan Rather saying the same thing about the Kennedy funeral despite the massive coverage it is currently receiving? And, remember, Reagan was the president who turned the economy around and laid the foundations that terminated the Soviet empire.
"I think just about everything is over-covered these days," says Brokaw, 64. "The spectrum is so crowded."
So is Brokaw now complaining about the "crowded spectrum?" The sounds of silence provides the answer.
ABC's Jennings has mixed feelings about the quantity of time devoted to Reagan.
"I'm more inclined to spare coverage -- come on (the air), do something meaningful, then get away." He admits he was nervous about going live Monday with the Reagan motorcade.
Somehow no current anchor seems to have "mixed feelings" about the quantity of time devoted to Kennedy.
Rather had much less than faint praise for Ronald Reagan with this Shakespeare quote about Julius Caesar's funeral:
"To paraphrase Marc Anthony, I think, by and large, that the good that men do live after them, and the evil should be interred with their bones."
Just a few months after implying the "evil" in Reagan, Dan Rather tried to derail the re-election campaign of George W. Bush with fraudulent documents. Talk about evil.
Finally, Brokaw worried about Reagan receiving too much praise during his funeral:
"Reagan" was a beloved American leader, but at the same time our journalistic obligation is to put his whole life and his political career in context," Brokaw says. "It's a very delicate balancing act."
So far, no network anchors seem to be concerned about the "very delicate balancing act" in their coverage of Kennedy's funeral. Such concerns only seem to happen when covering the funeral of a beloved conservative.
—P.J. Gladnick is a freelance writer and creator of the DUmmie FUnnies blog.
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Those clowns will always
August 30, 2009 - 09:45 ET by Guapo DiabloThose clowns will always hate Reagan because he was so blatantly effective.
→ Teddy and Jacko
August 30, 2009 - 09:53 ET by Cool ArrowLet's keep the comparisons within the confines of similar subjects.
I thought the coverage of Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, and Teddy Kennedy, were over the top.
But the Networks chose to spend their time covering them.
We will Barry you! - Russian prophecy
I thought it was sick
August 30, 2009 - 09:54 ET by Paul GAll morning, afternoon and night, I'd switch to FNC and even they were 24/7
What was even sicker was for days now, we had to hear the same things said over and over and over again.
I don't remember this coverage and idol worship with Reagan by the MSM, even though he was a two term PRESIDENT, not a senator who killed a woman.
What a bunch of partisan circus clowns....
August 30, 2009 - 09:56 ET by superconThey used the man's funeral to take one last parting shot at him. Disgusting. Ronald Reagan was beloved by millions. He won his second term by a whopping landslide. That was back when the term "landslide" meant over seventy percent. The whole country loved him.
Ted Kennedy on the other hand could only be elected in Massachusetts. At least Ronald Reagan didn't have any dead bodies or drunken charades in his past.
" if Republicans are able to stop Barack Obama on health care, 'it will be his Waterloo, it will break him...." -Sen. Jim DeMint
Propaganda Isn't What It Used to Be.
August 30, 2009 - 10:07 ET by JustAlBack in the day, Cronkite was so subtle, so smooth, for most of the media you had to look for the bias, because they knew the way to boil a frog is to turn the heat up very, very slowly.
The clowns out there today don't have a shread of subtly, nor a clue about strategy, they have become so blatant that people have to activly avert their eyes to avoid seeing the bias, no make that the fanatical commitment to the left.
We are living in the end times of the influence of the media elites, the last election is, in my opinion, the last one they will be able to sway. They are out in the open, as naked as the Emperor they serve, and they have no where to run for cover when the lights come on.
The difference between
August 30, 2009 - 10:10 ET by Jack BauerTrue -- but the main difference was that one was President -- just 44 since 1789.
And one was a mere Senator -- just, what??? -- 4000 since 1789?
And when asked, the Senator couldn't think of ONE reason why he wanted to be President.
→ Thanks Jack
August 30, 2009 - 10:19 ET by Cool ArrowThat also popped out at me.
We will Barry you! - Russian prophecy
cool -- as passing interest,
August 30, 2009 - 12:28 ET by Jack Bauercool -- as passing interest, I wonder how many Senators there have been in total?
Way too much coverage
August 30, 2009 - 10:26 ET by bknownstFuneral coverage should have been a snapshot of people throwing him off the bridge at Chappaquidick and spitting in the water.
Reagan
August 30, 2009 - 10:39 ET by jessieHReagan was a two term president. Kennedy was a murderer.
Thanks P.J.
August 30, 2009 - 12:23 ET by deerjerkydaveThanks P.J. for picking up on this. I was wondering how network coverage of Reagan's funeral compared to their coverage of Kennedy.
Well, there is a
August 30, 2009 - 12:50 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsWell, there is a difference. The turnout for Reagan was grassroots, the turnout for Kennedy was pure astroturf.
I'm just saying.
D
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That is the truth
August 30, 2009 - 13:36 ET by Calypso JonesWe were there and i remember looking around at the number of people and i was absolutely floored thinking that no one was bussed in or paid to attend. They all came under their own steam and at their own expense. That was probably the most tranquil washington has ever been. No trash, no police breaking up unruly people, no union, respectful, quiet, solemn, well behaved..obviously no leftists in attendance because i saw no police riot gear.
The media's coverage of the Lyin in the senate was preposterous. I knew that the day one of their heroes passed, they would be jealous of the public attention that reagan received from Americans.
Well You Should Try Living On Cape Cod...
August 30, 2009 - 12:56 ET by CapeCodScottIt's 24/7 here. I appreciate what he did for his family, John & Robert's kids had a loving Uncle that tried to fill the voids in their lives, but as a legislator, I can not support the policies that he spearheaded.
Such a dichotomy, a kind man and an unabashed Liberal... A man who met the needs of his family and yet wanted Government to meet the needs of others families... I feel like I never knew you Ted and am still wondering how you were both of these men, One I knew of publicly and one I was introduced to personally by your family and friends upon your passing.
www.ScottOnCapeCod.com
"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation"... until they get fed-up enough to finally say something about it!
→ Yeah, Scott
August 30, 2009 - 13:55 ET by Cool ArrowBut consider this from Matthew 5:43
How he treated the children of his legacy, (Jack and Bobby's kids) was a matter of public display.
We will Barry you! - Russian prophecy
CCS... My heart goes out
August 30, 2009 - 16:28 ET by bigtimerCCS...
My heart goes out to you living where you do regarding the 24/7 msm coverage, I've heard that also via Wa. Journal and radio etc...guess you have to mum the mute too.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
This is one of many, many
August 30, 2009 - 13:43 ET by Free StinkerThis is one of many, many reasons why I hate the MSM.
President Reagan won the Cold War. (and they hate him for it)
Senator Kennedy once left a young woman to die. (but they still love him)
Reagan mattered...
August 30, 2009 - 16:15 ET by P. Aaron...that's why his funeral was so 'over-covered'.
There were some things that
August 30, 2009 - 23:05 ET by RR GOPThere were some things that I didn't like about the Reagan Administration, but damn it was great to live in America with him as president.
He was a great president. But Carter and Clinton will get big send offs one day courtesy of the Politburo and TASS.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
Reagan's funeral was "overcovered" and Ted Kennedy's wasn't?...
August 30, 2009 - 23:22 ET by PrairieSkyWhat a load of crap...
Ronald Reagan was a president, not to mention a great president and was (and is) much beloved and respected by most people in the country. Ted Kennedy was just a senator, and an extremely controversial one at that, and most people outside of Washington, D.C. and Massachusetts couldn't have cared less about him. The whole "Kennedy Mystique" garbage was a creation of the press, and Americans who knew the truth about Ted Kennedy and the rest of his family, had little use or respect for him. The whole Kennedy-a-thon that we had to suffer through was absolutely ridiculous, and was way overdone for a senator, regardless of the fact that his last name was Kennedy. Would any other senator's death get such coverage and adulation? Not a chance.
I'm just glad that it's over and now maybe the news channels can get back to covering the real news...What a concept.
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little...the problem is that government spends too much." ~President Ronald Reagan
Sky... I remember the
August 30, 2009 - 23:32 ET by bigtimerSky...
I remember the difference...the real difference.
The msm does their best to rewrite what isn't true right before our very eyes, done intentionally so they can all have their talking points heard on video etc. to teach the next generation of hoepfully groomed to be leftists to see things their way...
Indoctrination...
Lovely.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
bt...You said it...
August 30, 2009 - 23:37 ET by PrairieSkymy friend...Indoctrination is exactly the right word. Pick up any history textbook that has been written in the last twenty to thirty years, and you will see a very clear example of this indoctrination. Makes me sick...
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little...the problem is that government spends too much." ~President Ronald Reagan
Some crucial differences
August 31, 2009 - 08:50 ET by UnsaneSome things are missing here:
At the time of Reagan's death there were only 41 other people who held his position. (Remember: Grover Cleveland is 22 AND 24).
Ted Kennedy died in a way I wouldn't wish on anyone else. (Yes, I thought he was a jerk, but I didn't want to see him go THAT way.) Reagan did as well, and indeed, lived out the last decade of his life in a fog of Alzheimer's.
Reagan was also a titan of an era. Can you or anyone else get into a discussion of the 1980s without bringing him up?
Finally, whether you loved him or hated him, there are thousands and thousands of Americans that were (and are) in the position of the Reagan family - caring for elderly relatives who may be suffering from diseases such as Alzheimer's. This couldn't have helped but evoke sympathy from people who had experienced this or were in the same situation already.
So, was the passing of Reagan overcovered? Nah.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)