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Chapman’s News & Ideas Ferguson Hysteria

There is a difference between news and hyped-news. The murder charge against a white policeman in Ferguson, MO, like the O.J. trial, the Rodney King arrest and the Travon Martin case in Florida,is an examples of media-induced hysteria. They are the racial equivalent of the death of Princess Diana that for a while transfixed much of the world or the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines jet. It’s of interest, but the total absorption of the media is owing to ratings, not significance.

There are so many truly consequential developments in the world, including the world of American blacks–starting with stunted income and opportunity in a stagnating economy–that it is hard to credit the exaggerated emphasis on one highly equivocal death.

Bruce Chapman

Cofounder and Chairman of the Board of Discovery Institute
Bruce Chapman has had a long career in American politics and public policy at the city, state, national, and international levels. Elected to the Seattle City Council and as Washington State's Secretary of State, he also served in several leadership posts in the Reagan administration, including ambassador. In 1991, he founded the public policy think tank Discovery Institute, where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board and director of the Chapman Center on Citizen Leadership.