Did MSNBC Rent Out A Fenced Off Parking Lot to Report from Ferguson?

I saw a little of the MSNBC coverage.

I saw them interviewing people behind a fence.

I wondered, "Do they have all those people behind a fence?"

Like, were the protesters locked up behind a fence?

And if so, who locked them up?

And why isn't anyone reporting this outrage? (And it would seem rather outrageous, if that were the case.)

Well, it looks like it wasn't the protesters who were locked in behind fence -- it was MSNBC's gutsy reporting crew, who locked themselves in, I guess, because: Safety first.

[Freelance reporter Ryan Schuessler] had plenty of complaints about the media’s behavior, but one of Schuessler’s reasons stood out in particular:

Another [to-be-left-unnamed] major TV network renting out a gated parking lot for their one camera, not letting people in. Safely reporting the news on the other side of a tall fence.

A National Review reporter says he can confirm that he saw cameras in a locked parking lot but could not tell whose equipment it was.*

The rest of NR's post makes a circumstantial case that it was MSNBC in that parking lot, based on the below video, of protesters throwing rocks at Chris Hayes.

Assuming MSNBC was in fact inside their parking lot, these images now make sense to me, in terms of physical space.

Good Lord. MSNBC ought to be embarrassed if this is true. Not just because they misled viewers into thinking protesters were locked up inside cages, by not admitting that they had chosen to lock themselves up.

But in terms of sheer cowardice.

This is the network celebrating the Ferguson protests, and yet they will only report on their heroes from behind locked iron fences?

Wow.

Why is no one else reporting this?

The Guild looks out for fellow members, doesn't it?

* Corrected. I claimed that a NR reporter could confirm that it was MSNBC's equipment in that parking lot -- but I misread it. He can only confirm that someone had cameras in there.

I'll just say I don't remember seeing any other network interviewing people behind fences.

Maybe others did, but I didn't see that.

posted by Ace at 06:15 PM

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