The phrase forgive and forget is a common one. It used to be, when someone made a mistake, we forgave them, but never forgot what they did. But, the 24/7 news cycle we have now has turned the tables.
With the advent of cable news, the internet and social media, big news stories break seemingly every 30 seconds. It used to be that people had to wait for the evening news to get what happened during the day. And if something was big enough, it would cut into your favorite TV show and the whole country would simultaneously be made aware of the story.
Nowadays, things explode via twitter, Instagram or on a cable news station, and then 24 hours later, something else comes along and takes the headlines.
Some massive news stories have been buried because of the news cycle seemingly having Attention Deficit Disorder and moving to the next thing. Let’s take a look at some examples of this.
Anyone remember the whole David Ortiz shooting? I do. In fact, I wrote about it a while back. Read that here if you’re interested: https://www.blindowlblogs.com/post/where-did-that-go Still hasn’t been anything on that in years. I mean in this case, the cover up was in full effect, but it is still weird.
I’ve covered that in full, but there are so many other examples. Let’s go to something a little more recent.
For a few weeks, Deshaun Watson being accused of sexaul assault was the biggest story in the sports world. All sorts of media outlets from all over the country were covering it around the clock. Watson allegedly assaulted 24 different women whom he hired to give him massages. Even going as far as to hit them with his schlong during the massage. Sickening really.
And yet, you hear nothing about it. Watson is at Texans camp practicing in full. The story has seemingly disappeared. It was a bigger story that a 33 year old TIm Tebow got cut from the Jags. Doesn’t that just seem odd to anyone? I even saw some who were more offended that Tebow even got a chance to play than Watson not facing justice.
Let’s be real, if this story totally blows over, it is a master stroke by the Deshaun Watson PR team. They seemed to have a “hurry up and do nothing” strategy when it comes to handling this. He was able to weather the storm and has moved past it. Quite shameful if we are being honest.
Now this phenomenon doesn’t just exist in the sports world. Let’s take a look at politics.
Governor Andrew Cuomo recently resigned due to sexaul harassment allegations. But does anyone remember Covid positive patients he sent into nursing homes? That kind of blew away in the spring of last year. If it wasn’t for the sexaul harassment accusations, I guarantee Cuomo would still be in office. I’m sure those in New York that had relatives killed by Cuomo’s decision are happy the guy is out, but it isn’t for the real crime. I’m all for taking terrible people down for whatever, but it is just strange that it took sexual harassment to get him axed, not killing people.
I could go on and on for hours of stories that got buried because of the psychotic news cycle. I mean, Bill Cosby, one of the most prolific rapists in American history, is waking up a free man today, and a week or so ago, we were more worried about a Rockies fan yelling at a mascot.
This is all a symptom of America’s obsession with instant gratification. We crave outrage and the newest thing to be outraged about. Then, when we exhaust our anger towards one issue, the next thing comes along and we move on. If those who are angry don’t get what they want, they try for something else. Then, those people focus on the stupidest things. The “cancel culture” that exists now is a prime example. But even that has lost steam when those being “cancelled” just weather the storm and continue.
Like I said, this all a result of the news cycle. We are continuously bombarded with news, that it is almost impossible to remain focused on a story for any amount of time. Not only that, but the news stations and outlets make everything seem like “BREAKING NEWS” or a “DEVELOPING STORY” and play fancy laser sounds to make it seem like something big is happening. Then, they tell us something that is totally unimportant like President Biden loves Chocolate Chocolate Chip ice cream. Meanwhile the Taliban is retaking Afghanistan.
Couple that with wise PR teams that wait for big things to happen, and then break their bad news during a huge story. It’s unfortunate, but it’s honestly a great move. Get something to break or drop a piece of news to hide what you don’t want us to see.
I don’t think the average person does this on purpose. None of us want Deshaun Watson to go unpunished. If he did what he’s accused of, it’s awful. But that’s where the old phrase comes to mind. We don’t forgive, we just forget.