“I will not be returning to Ferguson”

For the past week or so, I have been doing something I don’t normally do: I have spent hours watching the twitter feed about #Ferguson. Like, a whole night. Vice News has been streaming every night, and I’ve been watching/listening to the protests, other people around and the police around the cameras. I was annoyed at myself for spending my time doing that instead of other things, but on Tuesday, after seeing this on the twitter feed, I felt really uncomfortable:
“Tonight, millions of American will watch #Ferguson for entertainment. This is Rome, and the media make it worse.”
Thanks to The Hunger Games and learning about the origin of the word, “Panem,” I caught the reference to Rome, and it was convicting. In a way, I think it’s good that media coverage was like this. The police department wasn’t giving any details about what happened and, at least at first, traditional news wasn’t paying much attention to it.
However, it feels too much like I’m watching this for entertainment, and what the hell is wrong with me if I’m doing that? Am I just being pacified by panem et circunses? It really made me uncomfortable, for reasons I still don’t fully understand. The explanation is a little closer by reading this post today, written by a journalist who had been reporting out of Ferguson and is choosing to pull out.