Source: Instagram
Posted on 09/24/2021 5:42:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
Source: Instagram
Twenty-two-year-old Gabby Petito is dead. Authorities found her body in Wyoming. Her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, returned home to Florida after Petito went missing on their cross-country excursion through national parks. Laundrie subsequently walked off into a wilderness preserve, presumably to flee from authorities who now wish to question him.
The story broke a week ago. It sailed past me until my 16-year-old daughter asked what I thought about it. I had no idea what she was talking about. My wife, the next day, came home from the gym and asked about it. A 20-something young woman at her gym was talking about it. None of the women over 30 had heard about it.
The media swooped in, and the story took on new life. A few days ago, the professional progressive talking points regurgitator at MSNBC, Joy Reid, blasted the media for covering Petito only because she is a young, blonde, white girl. Reid noted that plenty of nonwhite women go missing but the media ignores them. Last time I checked, Reid has a show on MSNBC named after herself, and she, a member of the media, has also chosen to ignore all those stories.
Petito is dead. Her boyfriend has fled. Her parents are grieving. Professional race-baiters have hijacked her memory to turn her into a racial talking point. There are a few things worth noting even for those who have paid no attention.
Joy Reid's complaint holds a kernel of truth. Petito was an attractive young woman with a large following on social media. The media is obsessed with ratings. In particular, the media is obsessed with "the demo," or media consumers ages 25 to 54. Specifically, media advertisers believe if a 25- to 35-year-old can be converted into a consumer of particular media or products, they'll retain brand loyalty for decades.
The media covers Petito's death hoping to convert some of her hundreds of thousands of followers into brand-loyal news consumers whom advertisers want to reach. Beyond those hundreds of thousands of followers, there are millions more mostly young women who have become obsessed with true-crime podcasts and stories. The humor site, The Babylon Bee, recently ran a story capturing this phenomenon. The headline was, "Guy Being Murdered Just Glad He'll Finally Be On a Podcast." "It was while the ax was dropping into his spleen that Tony Marcus realized a lifelong dream was coming true. He had been a fan of true crime podcasts for years but never dreamed he would get to be on one. Now, totally unexpectedly, it was happening," their story began.
The media wants viewers. A young, blonde 22-year-old female social media influencer left dead in the forests of Wyoming, presumably killed by her now-on the run boyfriend will get ratings. It might convert young news consumers into longtime news consumers. The media has a business interest in caring about Gabby Petito.
There is another angle to this as well. Petito was a social media influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers. She died tragically. In a small bit of irony, the location of her murder was discovered by another YouTuber who was editing video of a trip. He happened to have passed what looked like Petito and Laundrie's van in the woods in Wyoming. He relayed the location to police who were able to find Petito's body nearby.
In the postmodern era, people are more emotional and relational. People who did not know Petito feel like they knew her. They connected to her online. They are grieving. The larger cultural story here is how so many could care about and relate to someone they do not know and become invested in her life. That is happening more and more, and those same people will keep bypassing the media organizations in favor of the relatable individuals they find on social media and follow online and off. The emotional and relational connection to individuals now transcends organizational brand. People are connecting to people, not brands, and one of those people is now tragically dead.
Good post. 👍🏻
Dan Bongino pointed out on his podcast the other day that Joy Reid has had all the opportunity in the world to raise missing person reports on her national show.
The media is racist.
Ever hear the one about the blonde that returned her scarf because it was too tight?...
Excellent summary.
Did she really have hundreds of thousands of followers? I still haven’t run into anyone who followed her online.
Did that for over 30 years with Rush, he was way ahead of his time and I still mourn for his informative and positive voice.
“ So, Joy Reid is only concerned about the black brand?”
Yep. Her narrative is “black good, white bad.” And they let her go on and on like that. If you switched “black” for “white” in her bile filled screeds they would shot her show down after one minute. Why is it ok to trod racially on whites? Is it because we don’t fight back? Someone here yesterday came up with the term “negro fatigue”. I believe it is a thing. The more people like Ms Reid blather, the less concerned I am of their well being.
So he thought her dissapearance was funny? Did he also think that little girl’s disapearance from her parents hotel room was funny. As far as I am aware that little girl has not been found as of yet
Keen observation.
I never heard of that dude, but he is pretty funny.
Enough about Gabby Petito already. It’s not as if she was the only girl ever murdered by her boyfriend. I don’t understand why she is such big news.
ML/NJ
Unvetted Afghans are flooding into our nation bringing covid with them?
Tens of thousands of Haitans are at Del Rio insisting on asylum from a nation that they haven't been to for years?
Illegals are pouring into the US at the rate of 200k+/mo?
Prices are skyrocketing?
Election fraud is rampant?
Freedoms are being destroyed daily?
And the media is wanting me to worry about the demise of an adventure seeker and her boyfriend?
There are a hell of a lot of higher priorities?
C'mon, the limerick isn't going to write itself ...
Ratings, it sells, it's basically entertainment, not news.
Really? Natalee Holloway and “hilarious” do NOT go together. So it’s a hard pass from me… I have zero interest in clicking on your link.
When your virtue signal knob is turned up to 11, you will miss the point. A setting of about a 6 or 7 will help you to calm down. The late Patrice O'Neal was a great comic, and as all great comic do, O'Neal lived on the edge and forced people to consider truths that they normally would not. He is not laughing at the Holloway tragedy, he is mocking the media driven culture and what they promote and what they ignore. . .but he does it in a way that people can laugh. Vulgar at times, sure. ..so put on your big-boy pants, you won't melt, I promise.
BTW, laughter is also an important channel to the truth. . .but in today's climate, it has become a victim of those who refuse to miss a single opportunity to virtue signal.
Who knew Hands Up Brown, St. Skittles and Floyd were social media influencers.
As someone here said the other day, the last time there was a cute blonde making news like this was Natalee Holloway. That was over 16 years ago.
Strawberry’s granddaughter is young and cute. She went missing a couple days ago and it was all over the headlines and social media so there you go, Joy, a missing black girl was missing and her family was worried. Well, she was only gone overnight but it was all over everywhere. Joy must be disappointed she hasn’t been missing a month so she could have interviewed grandpa.
It seems to me there are only 2 options regarding Joy’s program.
1. She is so stupid she doesn’t realize she is complaining about her bosses and doesn’t have editorial control over her program.
2. She has editorial control over her program and didn’t care until now...
Along with his equally monstrous parents.
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