Video: The media is the enemy
posted at 9:18 pm on December 3, 2007 by Allahpundit
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A trenchant satire on the media’s loyalty in the age of terror? Not from a lefty outfit like the Onion. Call this a commentary on sensationalist stunt journalism — sort of like “To Catch a Predator” but in the national security context.
Kinda dicey.
Reporters Expose Security Lapses By Smuggling Bomb On Plane, Blowing It Up
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wow. just wow.
lorien1973 on December 3, 2007 at 9:22 PM
Can we email this to TSA workers?
BobJones-77 on December 3, 2007 at 9:26 PM
Not funny. Not even in a black comedy sort of way. Not even as a satire or whatever. I’ve found pretty much every other video from The Onion as funny, but this crossed the line.
Of course my sense of humor has been “off line” for a couple of days because of the pressure cooker that is work so it could just be me.
mjk on December 3, 2007 at 9:27 PM
I was watching the hilarious ticker moreso than watching the video.
SouthernGent on December 3, 2007 at 9:29 PM
The media types wouldn’t actually have the guts to “pull the trigger” so to speak. But they sure do go out of their way to undermine our lives and security in other ways.
Guardian on December 3, 2007 at 9:31 PM
I agree. I don’t think this is funny at all and is in poor taste.
drjohn on December 3, 2007 at 9:31 PM
huh.
Spirit of 1776 on December 3, 2007 at 9:33 PM
Nope, not for me.
d1carter on December 3, 2007 at 9:39 PM
Jesus christ! that is even crude to me.
TheSitRep on December 3, 2007 at 9:45 PM
Not one bit of humor, wrong on every level.
bbz123 on December 3, 2007 at 9:45 PM
Nope, sick and disgusting.
Buzzy on December 3, 2007 at 9:51 PM
Not funny.
Sadly, the real media’s actions are only different in degree, not in kind, from this ‘parody’.
New York Times, a.k.a. the Al Quaeda Inteligence Service, I’m looking at you.
ticticboom on December 3, 2007 at 9:54 PM
Nah.
Onion has lost it.
profitsbeard on December 3, 2007 at 9:54 PM
More proof that Clinton’s fake bomber was right in demanding free mental health care from her. IMHO, most democrat voters are in dire need of same thanks to their unrealisticly believing the decades of promises made then broken to them.
DannoJyd on December 3, 2007 at 9:56 PM
Sorry for thinking it was funny.
sweeper on December 3, 2007 at 9:56 PM
Just awful.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on December 3, 2007 at 9:58 PM
OMG, this is brilliant satire. I dont know how people can see this as offensive. Its showing the absurdity of the lengths the news goes to in order to sensationalize crap.
muyoso on December 3, 2007 at 10:01 PM
Coarse, sure, but it doesn’t surprise me.
Remember it was one of Bush’s first cave-in’s that he agreed to unionizing/federalizing the airport security people. History suggests once they’re federal employees, it’s usually downhill from there. No wonder we strip search old ladies and let the young Saudi men pass.
petefrt on December 3, 2007 at 10:02 PM
I don’t think this “crossed the line” (there’s appropriately a lot of leeway for being offensive in the name of satire, when the underlying offensiveness is at the heart of what’s being satirized), but it just simply wasn’t funny. I think they were banking too much on the shock value and too little on the actual humor value. The “joke” as Allah pointed out (media is blind to the real-world consequences of stunt journalism if they think the stunt makes a grand point) was one-note and almost immediately tiresome.
flip on December 3, 2007 at 10:04 PM
Heh! I thought it was funny. The media is becoming a characature of itself.
With all this Tase stuff going on, I’m thinking about starting a new viral marketing service by hiring aspiring actors from Hollywood to get tased while wearing a T-shirt with my website on it and scream the name of the site when he/she gets tased.
I bet I could make a killing with a little cottage industry goofing on the media.
ThackerAgency on December 3, 2007 at 10:09 PM
Didn’t like it.
see-dubya on December 3, 2007 at 10:11 PM
Meanwhile,somewhere were sand spiders dare to go,
in a dark cave,stands a somewhat tall person,he speaks,
thats the plan,straight to Cedar Rapids,thanks be,
you know who,blessed are those of the news media
soft target intell reports!
Loose lips sink ships,duh!
canopfor on December 3, 2007 at 10:14 PM
Awful. But then I’ve yet to see anything from these guys that I think is funny. Their stuff is not black humor, it’s tactless and from the bottom of the barrel crap.
4shoes on December 3, 2007 at 10:16 PM
That wasn’t footage from Shanksville, was it? I hope not…
On a serious note tho…I keep hearing every couple of months or so how investigators seem to keep being able to smuggle weapons and such past airport security. It STILL happens all the time.
JetBoy on December 3, 2007 at 10:27 PM
Swift-like brilliant satire. Sure it is crass, but so was the suggestion that Irish eat their young. The last line about families demanding answers from the government is the clincher.
I for one love the Onion stuff. Leans left, but cuts both ways. Kicks the crap out of the half hour news hour and SNL.
Dirthead on December 3, 2007 at 10:59 PM
teh funny
treyevans on December 3, 2007 at 11:11 PM
i love the Onion
if your anywhere in the area near Austin, TX,the Onion actually has a print fake newspaper that it is equal if not better than the videos.onion has a great take on personal ads and advertisements as well…doubt itll ever go national; but its free and its littered all over Austin. was checking out UT and almost mistaked it from a real newspaper.
billylapulapu on December 3, 2007 at 11:14 PM
Billy..
The print onion was first and you can get it (mostly) national. Love Autin, by the way. Say hello to the Salt Lick, Rudy’s and Z-Tejas
Dirthead on December 3, 2007 at 11:20 PM
Correction..”Austin” Oh, and the Roaring Fork rocks as well….and Amy’s Ice Cream, The Continental Club…Damn… I miss Austin
Dirthead on December 3, 2007 at 11:22 PM
I thought it was going to get better when I heard the phrase “pistol whipping”, but then they showed the crash site.
Not funny.
Damian G. on December 3, 2007 at 11:32 PM
I have to agree. One real example that comes to mind is ABC smuggling radioactive material across international borders. This skit was meant to show how stupid the sensational media is. Don’t take it so seriously. But hey, that’s my opinion.
And no, that was not footage of Shanksville.
CP on December 3, 2007 at 11:35 PM
I didn’t even crack a half smirk. This was in such bad taste it sickened me a bit. I think many of the Onion’s headlines are funny, but frankly never understood why they bothered to expand them out with torturous paragraphs that just beat a dead horse of a halfway funny concept into the grave.
greggish on December 3, 2007 at 11:48 PM
I’m with you, Greg, I didn’t even smile either. I was waiting for the funny part but it never came. Not that I was offended, it just wasn’t funny.
Tony737 on December 4, 2007 at 12:09 AM
LOL hysterical.
nukemhill on December 4, 2007 at 12:20 AM
I found it funny. I think for me it was on all the laws that the reporters were breaking, even killed over 200 people, yet it was the Government everyone was ma at, heck, it was the Bush Amins fault they died, not the reporters or the news station.
WoosterOh on December 4, 2007 at 12:41 AM
that was so spot on.
“217 dead as TSA fails to stop special report”
LOL
triple on December 4, 2007 at 12:47 AM
point: I Didn’t like the fact that they used a real plane crash.
point: Satire doesn’t necessarily have to be funny.
point: Whereas reporters do not go to these lengths, they do do their best to make sure everyone else knows how to. Think of how many news casts that have shown swat on TV, which actually lets the baddies know where to shoot. Etc Etc
- The Cat
MirCat on December 4, 2007 at 12:54 AM
Makes perfect sense to me… How better to display that which the ‘MSM’ does to CREATE stories and how the ‘MSM’ reacts to events…? A little exaggeration to make the point, but hey…
Rugged Individual on December 4, 2007 at 1:49 AM
Hey you want me to believe trenchant is a word you use in everyday life?
CommentGuy on December 4, 2007 at 5:55 AM
They missed on this one, satirizing genuine media arrogance against a backdrop of one of our genuine fears and concerns — trivializing it.
It would have been much funnier if the reporters had been shot by an air marshall or dragged down by the passengers and beaten to death, maybe accompanied by a man screaming in the background as men and women curse him, “But … but I work for Channel Five!” Armstrong, back in the newsroom, could express shock and horror and demand an investigation.
I would have liked that.
Aardvark on December 4, 2007 at 7:00 AM
I have been following The Onion from way back, and usually find them hilarious. But not here. Smoking black spot in a field is too similar to United 92, and I will NEVER laugh or be amused at anything that brings that to mind. Never forget that flight because it reveals the bastards we are up against.
Come on, Onion. You are best when you are deflating overly sensitive egos. How about going after the media’s soft underbelly: their selective reporting on the war on terror. Or how about the Dem leadership– talk about a target-rich environment!
gajaw999 on December 4, 2007 at 7:24 AM
Never again.
Titus Flavius on December 4, 2007 at 8:02 AM
Am I mistaken, or did Hot Air (or was it Michelle?) also rip into the BBC for their own mock up of a plane crashing into the House of Parliament?
Make a joke of terrorism, and you laugh at 2,997 people who are no longer here to poke you in the eye.
thejackal on December 4, 2007 at 8:05 AM
The media can easily be our own worst enemy.
Remember right after 9-11-01? All the news magazines, TV reporters and newspapers had stories like “10 Easiest Terror Targets In America: Why They Are Vulnerable And How They Can Be Attacked”. Heck – some of the Time/Newsweek articles had photos and maps of targets, with estimated casualties!
I understand pointing out vulnerabilities, but how about telling the government/CIA/FBI/police instead of the whole world?
rockbend on December 4, 2007 at 8:25 AM
Trenchant was worthy of a lookup. Finding the word to be synonymous with caustic, better describes this video.
captivated_dem on December 4, 2007 at 9:14 AM
I miss Austin too. The Liberals there are more accepting of the Conservatives that surround them. So it isn’t “enemy” territory. Plus, lots of fine looking ladies.
The only thing I don’t miss about Austin is being stuck on Mo-Pac at all hours of the day.
James on December 4, 2007 at 9:21 AM
Haha, I enjoyed it.
ballz2wallz on December 4, 2007 at 9:31 AM
But but but how do you sell ad space with that?
- The Cat
MirCat on December 4, 2007 at 9:40 AM
Heh… I actually laughed. I can see where people might find it in poor taste, but ummm… hate to break it to you, but if The Onion doesn’t offend someone, I’m sure they feel they aren’t doing there job right.
They have done things with a religious bent that I find offensive and I just skip through those…
To each his own…
Nineball on December 4, 2007 at 9:52 AM
Here’s the full list of components used to make the device from the video.
Egfrow on December 4, 2007 at 10:14 AM
Here’s two Political Onion videos. Bullshit Choices. and Mitt in a Bar Fight.
Egfrow on December 4, 2007 at 10:27 AM
I don’t think it was funny, but I do think it illustrates very well just how far the news media will go to make news instead of just reporting it. Anyone remember exploding Chevy pickups? Faked Audi brake failures? This is the logical extension. Notice how they put the blame on the screeners and flight attendants. Exactly what happened after 9/11. Blame Bush, blame lax security. DON’T blame the actual TERRORISTS, because that would be JUDGEMENTAL.
So no, I don’t think it was funny. But I thought it was brilliant.
otcconan on December 4, 2007 at 10:36 AM
This one was no different than any of the Onion’s other parodies. They show what is wrong with the media, but amp it up to 11. So many layers, it’s insane.
Krydor on December 4, 2007 at 11:43 AM
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