Malaysia Airlines Plane

The story I am discussing is the lost Malaysia airlines jet. 239 people are on the airplane and it has been missing for a little over a week. The story has had non stop coverage all week. However, not much has developed in the story except a lot of hear say and guesses on what could have happened.

The first news show I watched was The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC (originally broadcasted May 18^th). Rachel Maddow was quick to say that many stations have been covering the story, however no real news was being produced. By this she meant there was no real concrete new information being produced from other stations. This is something I agree with as most news channels use speculations to keep the story going. However, Maddow was more using this intro as a plug for the fact that NBC has presented real news that evening. She then showed a clip of Brian Williams presenting the new development of when the plane took an unplanned turn. Maddow's tone was very serious and also a bit snarky. A lot of graphics were used to show the plan turning, which is something I'm sure we all could have understood without a visual.

The next show I watched was Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC (broadcasted May 20^th). Chris Matthews always has a rather loud and questioning tone. He especially does here, pointing out that all media attention is on these 239 people and the plane. The Breaking News banner came across the screen, then a video clip of Australian prime minister speaking (unidentified items have been found near Australia). Matthew’s brings in two “experts” on something to do with airplanes, they both seem kind of snarky about how the search has been so unsuccessful. The overall tone was being above the situation as if they could easily solve this mystery. Other visuals are shown, such as the satellite image of the unidentified items floating in the ocean. Overall it just seemed like a way to fill air time and a lot of unanswered questions. Maddow's and Matthews had different general attitudes because Maddow's seemed a bit more hopeful or even sympathetic. However they both were similar in looking down on the constant media coverage with a lack of real news.

For my last show I watched Bill O'Reiley on Fox News (broadcasted May 20^th). He also showed the same video Matthew's showed of the Australian prime minister talking about the unidentified items found. Bill O'Reiley then talks negatively about the press in America. Like Maddows and Matthews he discusses the constant coverage of this story. He also mentions it's being used for ratings for dying newspapers and lackluster news stations, which is probably very true. His tone is very condescending. I find it humorous that all three show hosts talked about the constant coverage of the Malaysian plane in a snarky “that's not real news” way, however they discussed the same story they were mocking. This proves they are just as much in it for the ratings.