Man bites dog (journalism)
The phrase man bites dog is a shortened version of an aphorism in journalism which describes how an unusual, infrequent event is more likely to be reported as news than an ordinary, everyday occurrence with similar consequences, such as a dog biting a person (“dog bites man”). An event is usually considered more newsworthy if there is something unusual about it; a commonplace event is less likely to be seen as newsworthy, even if the consequences of both events have objectively similar outcomes. The result is that rarer events more often appear as news stories, while commoner events appear less often, thus distorting the perceptions of news consumers of what constitutes “normal” rates of occurrence.
The phenomenon is also described in the journalistic saying, “You never read about a plane that did not crash”.
The phrase was coined by Alfred Harmsworth, a British newspaper magnate, but is also attributed to New York Sun editor John B. Bogart (1848–1921): “When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.” The quote is also attributed to Charles Anderson Dana (1819–1897).
You’ve seen plenty of clips of kooks and loons from the OWS crowd, and you figure the facts don’t matter. Our guardians of public policy are going to sweep aside the ugly and illegal side of OWS, while condemning Tea Party for every imagined and imaginable offense. The double standard is so deeply entrenched and obvious that it’s almost ludicrous to speak of it.
Maybe you saw this clip of another OWS moonbat with an anti-Semitic rant.
“I think that the Zionist Jews, who are running these big banks and our Federal Reserve, which is not run by the federal government… they need to be run out of this country.” She identifies herself as Patricia McAllister and as an employee of Los Angeles Unified School District.
Consequences? Fat chance! First of all, anti-Semitism is verging on respectable these days. Do I need to give examples? Al Sharpton (see the blood-stained tale of Freddy’s Fashion Mart) and Obama’s Rev. Wright leap to mind. And of course black people are held to a lower standard, insultingly by the Establishment, with respect to cultural tolerance (am I (Maynard) allowed to observe this without being branded as a racist?). So I figured this gal would be just fine. Maybe a supervisor somewhere would offer a mealy-mouthed not-quite rebuke, along the lines that her frustration is understandable but should have been expressed more tactfully (and I (the supervisor) am not a racist). But of course she was on her own time, so it’s none of our business. And did I mention that I’m not a racist? Something like that.
Los Angeles school officials say a substitute teacher has lost her job after making anti-Semitic comments during an interview.
In a statement Tuesday, schools Superintendent John Deasy condemned remarks made by Patricia McAllister during a protest rally last week.
In an Oct. 12 interview with Reason.com at a Los Angeles rally, McAllister said “Zionist Jews and the Federal Reserve” need to be run out of this country.
Deasy says that although freedom of speech is a protected right of public employees, the LAUSD can’t set a good example for students while tolerating disrespectful, intolerant or discriminatory behavior.
Wow. Maybe there’s hope for the world yet. (On the other hand, it’s worth noting that when a person is this outspoken in her racism, it’s a sure bet that her attitudes were not a surprise to anyone that worked with her. Nevertheless, she’d held her job until the situation came into the public spotlight. Take this as another indication of the corrupt culture that permeates our public institutions. This woman doesn’t belong in the schools, and it’s good she’s gone, but the problem is obviously much bigger than her (and she’s pretty big).
Ouch Maynard… your not a racist.. you’re a FATtist! Dog bites Maynard..WOOFAW.
I guess I’ve managed to offend blacks, fat people, and dogs. A typical day in Maynard’s life.
Maynard, we *have* to get you an avatar!!
Hey, this is what I look like, a blue square with geometric patterns.
Weird. These article has been re-Tweeted by “dogtimes”, which seems to be an influential account which focuses on items relevant to canines.
I have never been able to understand this ongoing bias and hatred of Jews. The Jews I’ve known in my life (if I even knew they were Jews) have generally been very friendly, smart, humorous, and just good people it seems to me — above average in fact. Free-spenders too! And then add in the fact that an astounding percentage of the world’s greatest scientists, theoreticians, artists, medical researchers and practitioners, inventors, philosophers and on and on, and it seems to me the world should cherish the Jewish people instead.
Envy knows no bounds.
That’s a big topic, and nothing I can say in a few words would do it justice. AncientWrrior notes the envy factor, which seems logical enough. But in the context of long history and many cultures, there’s obviously more going on. Jews have singled out for special persecution and even extermination throughout their history, and yet they have somehow survived. This includes many times and places where Jews weren’t particularly successful, which is why envy alone can’t explain the phenomenon. It seems to me that if you look at history with an objective eye, you have to acknowledge a force at work that defies rational explanation. Consider that, as the Bible would have it, the Jews were brought into being to bring the word of God, the concept of ethical monotheism, to the world. Being the “Chosen People” is not a perk; rather it’s a responsibility, and one that marks you as a target for that segment of humanity that stands in rebellion against God. Christians may understand this when they think of Jesus, sent to Earth as the ultimate sacrificial lamb; it seems that sinning humanity was rather eager to perform that sacrifice, and who would argue that humans don’t behave that way? Anyway, there it is, take it or leave it: I don’t believe the history of the Jews can be explained without some reference to the Divine.
Boy, the tolerance being displayed by these protesters is absolutely heartwarming.
I agree, Maynard…the history goes back so far that it can’t be ignored. Today people like this say that Jews run the banks, well, that goes back to the Middle Ages when Jews weren’t allowed to do much of anything other than banking and lending. It became part of their culture because they were persecuted and left with nothing else, yet now, many centuries later, they’re being persecuted for the very profession that was their only means of making a living way back when?
I’d love to ask that woman if she knew that part of history. I promise she doesn’t.
anybody else find it ironic that the clip is from “Reason TV”?