When it happened, by the media coverage, you would have thought he dropped his pants in the middle of a preschool or something. There was this almost uniform na

When it happened, by the media coverage, you would have thought he dropped his pants in the middle of a preschool or something. There was this almost uniform narrative that this 'scream' was crazy and it baffled me. These people all know how microphones and live events work, and it really felt like a concerted effort to drag the guy down - particularly given how gaffe-prone Bush was (putting it lightly), and especially given the whole Trump thing. 24-year-old me felt like it was a media drive-by, and I don't subscribe to the "big bad media" narrative that a lot of folks do. (I worked for a newspaper for a while, local journalism is especially important, which is why it's been targeted and gutted, but I digress) Later - I can't remember where - I saw a series of shorts that broke down these pivotal moments. Dukakis in the tank, Dan Quayle and potato, the Dean Scream, and others. It painted a much more nuanced picture around complications within the organization of the campaign that were playing behind the scenes, and with or without the scream, Kerry was playing a much stronger game, apparently. I feel like Howard Dean might have even contributed to the documentary. It was really interesting, I wish I could remember the context of these shorts. "Did anyone in the crowd react in that manner" - I remember accounts from the time saying that in the room, it wasn't weird at all. Everyone was pumped. None of that changes my mind that media supersaturated the scream. Late night shows, NPR, cable news, and I'm sure conservative media in particular were going to town.