The US media has gone gaga over Osama Bin Laden death coverage with the hype going as far as likening the incident to the historic US moon landing.
“This is bigger than the moon landing, this is huge,” exclaimed Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera.Danny Schechter, a filmmaker & blogger said the incident gave the media a big story, something to drive their news cycles – but, Twitter won. “This is the kind of story media outlets, TV networks live for. It gives them a chance to use their own footage. It gives them the chance to appear to be on the inside,” he explained. But, “Twitter seems to have beaten most of the television networks to the story according to a number of reports.”The problem is that coverage is not focusing on the whole story. The US media is focusing on Bin Laden’s death and the how and where it happened. There is little attention being given to what this means for al-Qaeda. Most experts agree that Bin Laden’s death does not change al-Qaeda’s existence or operations. The network is decentralized and will function much the same.Bin Laden’s death is more of a psychological importance than a military one.“This is not going to affect anything, which means the wars there will continue,” Schechter commented. “It’s a great political accomplishment.” “Obama is cashing in on this for everything that it’s worth,” he added. “The statement was clearly worded for political advantage.” The media is looking at the event, not the surroundings or what they mean or what it may or may not affect. “Most people see Bin Laden as al-Qaeda, when in fact he isn’t,” Schechter said. “There are these groups and cells that are capable of doing very violent things around the world and their capacity has not been changed.”