Metaphors: The band on the Titanic

Playing while sinking
Jason Whitlock’s “Whitlock on the Newspaper Industry: Letting ‘Myth’ Albom Preach Was the Equivalent of the ‘band playing while the Titantic took on water‘” on The Big Lead

APSE and its myth-building contest bait newspaper leadership to stay stagnate. Presenting Albom an award and giving him a platform to preach was the equivalent of the band playing while the Titantic took on water.