Catching fire

If a small town pastor threatens to burn the Quran in front his tiny congregation, does anyone in the media hear it?

The answer: A resounding yes.

When news first broke of Rev. Terry Jones’ public demonstration (if you can call it that) to protest the proposed Islamic center near ground zero, the story caught on like wildfire.

The coverage comprised a disappointing assortment of sensationalized non news. Why “non news,” you ask? Because there was nothing worth reporting. To begin with, Jones had yet to act on his threats; he planned to do so on September 11, but eventually cancelled. What’s more, the claims amounted to nothing more than the desperate cries for attention of a hate-filled crackpot. There are not enough reporters in the world to cover such obnoxious outbursts.

Admittedly, the story did have a certain buzzworthiness. Toss around works like “Quran,” “burning” and “9/11,” and you’re bound to attract a few eyeballs.

However, I still maintain Jones’s rants should have been ignored.

As I’ve already said, the story was non news. Secondly, unjustified media attention only further encourages more copycat Quran burners who want their share of the spotlight. Thirdly, the event could—an eventually did—spark violence. At least two people were killed in Afghanistan Sunday during protests, even though Jones had by then cancelled the burning. And finally, every second devoted to highlighting the ignorance and hatred of Jones distracted from more legitimate discussion on Islamic-American relations.

Now, Jones’ threats did spark some substantial debate on that last point. For example, CNN gathered numerous analysts to discuss the state of Islamic-American relations domestically, as well as how our efforts in the Middle East were either helping or hurting the cause. The media outlet even interviewed President Obama, who discussed how footage of Jones’ protest could be used as propaganda to recruit new members to Al Qaeda, let alone spark violence throughout the world.

But when all was said and done, even CNN seemed to recognize its errors in giving so much attention to a single crackpot. The outlet posted an article to its site Tuesday titled “Lessons from the whole Quran episode” that compiled contributors’ observations on the event and the way in which it was covered.

As Bob Steele, director of the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University and the Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values at the Poynter Institute, said: “Regrettably, the saga of the Rev. Terry Jones and his Quran-burning threat proves that many journalists and news organizations too easily abandon news judgment, professionalism and ethical standards in a zealous quest for a controversial story.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.