The coverage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has become a story of its own, with news and opinion hosts and producers slamming or defending networks for the nonstop coverage.
Take MSNBC host Chris Hayes. He has not covered the story anywhere near as much as his 8pm CNN competitor Anderson Cooper. (It’s worth nothing that Hayes, normally No. 2 in the hour, has lost to Cooper in the ratings every day since MH370 went missing. Friday March 7 was the last time Hayes beat Cooper).
Last night on his show, Hayes criticized CNN’s coverage, specifically Don Lemon who asked a guest whether a black hole could have sucked in the plane. Hayes also criticized News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch for tweeting speculation that the plane might have been stolen and hidden in northern Pakistan.
“Do not use mystery and its presence as an excuse to further whatever boogeyman you choose to make your audience scared of,” Hayes castigated. “That is the grown-up versions of monsters underneath the bed. And our job is not to fill the air by telling bedtime stories.”
Meanwhile, on “Fox and Friends” this morning, Peter Johnson Jr. criticized the nightly newscasts for leading with the missing plane story for the last 11 days, while ignoring other stories. “Fox is successful, and number one, because it carries the news that people want… on Obamacare, on Fast and Furious, on IRS scandals,” Johnson said.
And NBC/MSNBC’s Chuck Todd took to Twitter this morning to bemoan another day of “breaking news.” And in response, a CNN producer red flagged Todd for using the same tactics on his show:
Another day of “breaking news” based on finding nothing or in other words, “not breaking news”
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) March 21, 2014
I know it may look like I am casting stones while potentially living in a glass house. But the mistakes of one news org hurts ALL of us
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) March 21, 2014
@HuffPostMedia pic.twitter.com/AIAaRVzWDe
— Vaughn Sterling (@vplus) March 21, 2014