The media has no business having hurt feelings over “being used” by whack job Terry Jones and his very small flock of sheeple. This has been all about grabbing attention from the media, and in my opinion the media sucked in every word that Terry Jones and his ilk had to say on the oft threatened “Quar’an burning”. In my opinion the media fueled the chaos that followed.
Gainesville, Fla. — With the world on standby for possible violent rioting over a proposed Koran-burning here, the most fraught moment of the day Friday involved church representatives and a huge, sweaty, frustrated media corps.
Reporters from around the world, some of whom had been waiting on the large open lawn of the Dove World Outreach Center in intense heat and humidity for days, began yelling at youth pastor Luke Jones and an evangelist who has been working with the church after the two men gave a series of unclear comments about what would or wouldn’t happen Saturday– “International Burn the Koran Day”.
The appearances by K.A. Paul and Jones – son of the Rev. Terry Jones – just after 3:30 p.m. were the latest in a string of unexpected appearances church representatives made throughout the day. Terry Jones and Paul emerged shortly after 1 p.m. to say they were giving New York Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf two hours to agree to call off plans for a controversial Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero.
Two hours passed. Paul came out of the warehouse-like church, followed by Jones, 29. The men gave no clear answer to questions about whether the Koran-burning was off permanently, what the New York City project had to do with it, and whether there were behind-the-scenes talks going on that could change things.
“We’re not going to tell you what’s going on!” Jones finally yelled to a crowd of nearly 100 journalists and a few onlookers.
After having just had a similar, frustrating exchange with Paul, who had stood with Jones at the 1 p.m. news conference to issue the ultimatum, the hot and cranky media horde had had enough.
“Are you just toying with us to get attention?” asked a sweaty woman in a suit, crouching to keep out of the shot of multiple cameras over her head.
The crowd groaned.
“Why did you give this two-hour window?” came a shout from another side of the scrum.
“So will you say you’re going to burn a Koran anytime you want press coverage?” snapped a reporter with a German accent.
“We’re negotiating,” said Jones, his maroon T-shirt soaked through with sweat — but he refused to say what they were negotiating or with whom. And he kept repeating a tantalizingly ambiguous refrain: There will be no Koran-burning at 6 p.m. Saturday night.
“You’re just using us! We should all leave!” someone yelled from deep in the media pack.
Silence – for a moment. “Yeah! Let’s all leave!”
Jones’s response: “Fine, we’re not press hungry, go!”
But no one moved, until Jones turned and shuffled back to the church.
Clusters of police officers stood beneath a tree. “We know what you all know,” said Cpl. Tscharna Senn, spokeswoman for the Gainesville police department, gesturing to the weary pack.
The media throng silently dispersed — some back under the trees, where flies (maybe seeking shade?) swarmed, or for the lucky, to air-conditioned satellite trucks or cars. The only sound was a small group of college-age protesters that had gathered across the street in the otherwise quiet neighborhood.
“When our Muslim brothers are under attack, what do we do? Fight back!” came the chant.
Left standing in the middle of the field were two cameramen.
“See, if everyone leaves except for a few people, something could happen,” said one.
The other nodded, his face drenched with sweat.
Related Articles
- What Christians Can Learn from Koran Burner the Rev. Terry Jones (time.com)
- Does Terry Jones run a cult? (mojoey.blogspot.com)
- 9/11 Remembered Amid Koran Burning Row (news.sky.com)
- Pastor Terry Jones’ daughter pleads with dad not to burn Korans (nydailynews.com)
