As the Seas Shift, so Does the News Cycle

Any news junkie recognizes near monthly shifts in news cycles.  Midterm elections, TSA scanners, Wikileaks, Lame duck Congress, Mid-East turmoil, Union protests, and now a Japanese Earthquake.  Each new event, which comes to dominate coverage and punditry, is the death knell of its predecessor.  If an event is not resolved before its overshadowed, it's history.

So let this count as an Obituary for the Union Protests.

The Japanese earthquake, coupled with the weekend, has ended the union narrative.  Any large protests planned for this weekend will get zero coverage.  There are no friendly commentators over at MSNBC on over the weekend to force coverage.  The ongoing (and unfortunate) nuclear threat in Japan promises to to perpetuate news dominance.  Talks of a general strike have no traction.

But, there are 3 things we can takeaway in our postmortem examination.

1) The Tea Party now has universal legitimacy
After the crass actions of many union protesters, there is no standing to marginalize the tea party movement.  They can't be cast aside as crazy, a minority, dangerous, or racists, because there is demonstrable equivalence on the left which is upheld as noble, heroic, etc.

2)  The bill will stand, and be repeated in other states
Threats of recall and general strike are muted without national coverage.  Elections in Wisconsin are two years out, and voters's memories are short.  Besides, the national election will define the narrative, not a two year old debate.  The media microscope is no longer on other governors pushing similar laws.

3)  New media has changed the narrative
15 years ago, the only knowledge of the event in Wisconsin would be from nightly news coverage.  Now, the internet creates nuance to any story.  People actually read bills.  Videos emerge which objectively amplify events.  The narrative is no longer defined by media suits.