An observation about the media response to the killing of UHC CEO Brian Thompson...

[Jedi Guy]

(Apologies in advance if anyone else commented on this. If so, I didn't see it. I'm not going to wade into the debate on how individuals are responding to the murder since that topic has been beaten into the ground.)

At time of writing, Thompson was shot and killed about 60 hours ago. Does anyone else find it peculiar that it's been legit wall-to-wall media coverage since it happened? It's been the headline on CNN.com since it occurred, taking precedence over even the declaration of martial law in South Korea. Let's be honest, martial law being declared in a democratic ally of the United States is, by any measure, a much bigger deal than a health insurance CEO getting killed.

All the same, the media is breathlessly, relentlessly focused on this one event, seemingly to the exclusion of all other events of significance in the world over the last couple days. I can't prove it, but I'd be willing to bet that this event has received far more coverage than the assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a few years back. One would think that the assassination of the head of an allied state would be covered as much as, if not more than, the killing of a CEO.

I'd say this is pretty persuasive proof of the concept of "corporate media" for anyone who doubted the concept. This event is of trifling importance for John and Jane Q. Public (or Joe Bagodonuts, as my Dad would say). On the other hand, it's of immense significance for the corporate interests that underpin our mainstream media, and their hand can be clearly seen in the way this event is being covered.

The media is clearly focusing relentlessly on this one issue because their corporate overlords demand that they do exactly that. If you run into anyone who doubts that our media is bought and paid for, I'd just gesture vaguely at the coverage of Thompson's murder and leave my argument at that.