No Publicity Is Bad Publicity
Wikipedia says it best when it says; “Succès de scandale (French for “success from scandal”) is a term for any artistic work whose success is attributed, in whole or in part, to public controversy surrounding the work. In some cases the controversy causes audiences to seek out the work for its titillating content, while in others it simply heightens public curiosity. This concept is echoed by the phrase, “there is no such thing as bad publicity”.”
Well, publicity is exactly what a local Jewish synagogue is getting.
On Monday, February 28th, Temple Adath B’Nai Israel found what they called a bullet hole in one of their windows. No one seemed to know when the hole appeared, but the Rabbi, Gary Mazo believes it might have been on Sunday.
Mainstream media news stories are touting words and phrases such as; “Shot Fired Through Evansville Temple,” “Attack,” “Racism,” “Anti-Semitism,” “A Cowardly Act By A Bigot,” “Instill Fear,” and “Hate Crime.” The news stories go on to tell us that this is a “Federal Investigation,” that the “FBI will Likely rule this a Hate Crime.”
Even Mayor Lloyd Winnecke paid an impassioned visit to the Temple stating repeatedly that, “Hate will not be tolerated.”
According to the sensationalized media and political agenda, this is major news that is attracting national, yes national attention.
The problem, as one Evansville citizen stated, is this; “It was a freaking BB from a BB gun!”
Yes, some poor 10-year-old neighborhood kid was probably out shooting his Red Rider Christmas present in his back yard, missed his soda can… and now has the FBI investigating his “Hate.”
If you look closely at the image below you can see the basic outline of what every American male above the age of 10 knows to be the exact shape of a BB on damaged glass. (The red circle is drawn-in to show the shape of the tiny hole.)
Original photo was taken by an NBC photographer. Image constructed reveals damage, (red circle) and shape of BB.
Surprisingly, the real news in the same week in which there was a real gun, a real altercation, and real gunfire, at the Evansville Rescue Mission did not make national news… because it doesn’t fit the sensationalist agenda purported by the mainstream media, or the agenda of a Mayor seeking to make a name for himself as he sets his sights on higher ground.
Along with the Evansville Mayor, the Evansville “Interfaith Community” (of which Temple Adath B’Nai Israel is a part) could greatly benefit from the free publicity surrounding this overwhelmingly catastrophic BB gun damage.
While it is doubtful that anyone affiliated with Temple Adath B’Nai Israel would have shot a BB at their own window to create their own publicity stunt, it is not the damage itself that is stirring all the publicity, but the behaviors of grown men and women in media and politics who are deliberately turning a children’s toy gun into an act of terrorism.
And to what purpose? To incite fear? To spark rage? To create an outrage? To use a story with no known evidence of hate to further a cause?
Several people clearly saw this as an opportunity to further their own cause. Tonight, the Interfaith Community will see a massive outpouring of support on location at Temple Adath B’Nai Israel, likely with the Mayor and several news crews present to magnify the impact on the victims.
But the real victim here is not the Temple itself (for many have offered to pay for the damages and replace the window). The real victims are those who choose to believe the sensationalized fake news brought to us by the mainstream media, making a mountain out of a mole hill to incite fear in our community while receiving as much publicity as possible.
It’s true, of course, that there are still racists, Anti-Semitists, and a very real and horrific history in which Jews, Christians, African Americans, and others have been the victims of racism… but this quite simply… is not racism. It’s sensationalism.
In conclusion, while we should all stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters, and stand against racism and religious intolerance, we should also stand up against sensationalized and fear-mongering news stories from our local mainstream media who are trying to increase their ratings and website hits with stories of the “Uber-Racist BB-Gun-Toting Bandit.”
