In every confrontation between the press and President Trump, there comes a time when media coverage becomes so aggressively bad that it turns into a parody of itself and "Jumps the shark." I knew that moment had arrived in reporting on the federal government's partial closure when I opened my news-of-the-day app to find the headline, "How the shutdown will affect the Super Bowl." Having once attended a Super Bowl during a period of genuine emergency-Super Bowl XXV, played in the first days of Operation Desert Storm in January 1991-I doubted that the furloughing of nonessential federal personnel could threaten the big game.
Still, I've taken a thorough look at press coverage over the past two weeks and found nearly 500 stories on how the closure is supposed to affect our lives.
Leaving aside the IRS's longstanding reputation for giving out incorrect information even when the government is fully operational, the story hardly amounted to a personal tragedy, though Castor tossed in the detail that the tax preparer cared for an autistic child.
Though the paper tells us the town is "In the grip of a partial government shutdown," readers find little evidence of it.
What else could account for a story in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser entitled, "How the shutdown is affecting local breweries in Louisiana." The problem, the owner of Bayou Teche Brewing explains, is that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is responsible for approving labels for new beers, and the agency's not working right now.
"With every government shutdown that's happened since we opened, we've had a beer needing label approval," said Karlos Knott of Bayou.
No sooner had I finished reading the Super Bowl shutdown story than I came across this headline on Vox: "Cardi B's viral shutdown rant made some really good points." If that isn't jumping the shark, then I've never seen an episode of Happy Days.
https://www.city-journal.org/media-portrayal-of-govt-shutdown
Still, I've taken a thorough look at press coverage over the past two weeks and found nearly 500 stories on how the closure is supposed to affect our lives.
Leaving aside the IRS's longstanding reputation for giving out incorrect information even when the government is fully operational, the story hardly amounted to a personal tragedy, though Castor tossed in the detail that the tax preparer cared for an autistic child.
Though the paper tells us the town is "In the grip of a partial government shutdown," readers find little evidence of it.
What else could account for a story in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser entitled, "How the shutdown is affecting local breweries in Louisiana." The problem, the owner of Bayou Teche Brewing explains, is that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is responsible for approving labels for new beers, and the agency's not working right now.
"With every government shutdown that's happened since we opened, we've had a beer needing label approval," said Karlos Knott of Bayou.
No sooner had I finished reading the Super Bowl shutdown story than I came across this headline on Vox: "Cardi B's viral shutdown rant made some really good points." If that isn't jumping the shark, then I've never seen an episode of Happy Days.
https://www.city-journal.org/media-portrayal-of-govt-shutdown
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