As President Barack Obama issued his formal statement Monday in response to news that a grand jury will not indict police officer Darren Wilson, the situation on the ground in Ferguson deteriorated.
The unsettling disconnect between Obama’s measured words urging the community to remain peaceful was broadcast across many networks on a splitscreen depicting protesters marching through Ferguson, Mo.’s smoke-filled streets.
https://twitter.com/Holden_TA/status/537082879017111553
The split screen is surreal. pic.twitter.com/iFqp5Kdif8
— Ivan the K™ (@IvanTheK) November 25, 2014
As President @BarackObama called for peaceful protests, @CNN splitscreen showed a haze of tear gas rising in Ferguson pic.twitter.com/LuZOla15vd
— Alex Howard (@digiphile) November 25, 2014
As the juxtaposition settled in, a Bloomberg TV anchor pointed out how the live broadcast just depicted “protesters basically tossing a car back and forth.”
Encouraging an even-handed approach from media during his address, President Obama noted that “there is inevitably going to be some negative reaction, and it’ll make for good TV.”
Photo via Twitter
