EMAIL SIGN UP!
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
What the Media Aren't Telling You About American Protests
I am lately reminded of an assignment when my metro editor sent me to cover a “gentle protest” over the Gulf War of the 1990s in Jackson, Mich. (Don’t remember that war – or what it was about? That’s OK – because it was probably “security” and “oil,” and George W. ultimately righted his dad’s failure to see that war action through to its completion: killing Saddam Hussein, or at least dismantling his government. But I digress.)
It was an after-hours event, likely on a weekend (as that was my beat). And when I arrived at the designated time, well after sundown, I found one lone woman walking the length of a wall at an armory or similar government-type outpost with, not a flashlight, but a real, flickering candle. Back and forth, in the dark, trudging in the snow.
No one else had shown up – except me, that is. The place was deserted and, as I recall, not on a busy road. I actually had to drive by twice before I even saw her candle and a small chair she set up for herself when she got tired. It occurred to me that, if I walked away, it would have been the same as if she’d never been there at all. Yet, incontrovertibly, there she was: protesting a war that, at the time, no one was particularly riled up about. It wasn’t a story, really.
But I decided to speak with her anyway. I walked with her for about an hour and asked questions. Apart from understanding that my editors expected my story for the next day’s edition, I also sensed that there could be a story to tell – and that, if I didn’t, no one might ever consider an opposing view that, while solitary, might be worth listening to.
I’d have to dig through years of clips to find that story now. (I’m sure it resides in the Jackson Citizen Patriot morgue). But it’s not the story that’s important to me now.
It’s that I covered it at all – and that my editors were grateful I did. And that readers seemed to value the fact we were there to capture a moment in their community they would otherwise not have known about.
More than a week ago, a small band of peaceful protesters descended on Zuccotti Park (formerly Liberty Park) in New York City, not far from Wall Street. They dubbed their little movement “Occupy Wall Street.” And, on the first weekend, starting Sept. 17, they had quite a number of people join them in marches and speeches that essentially claimed the 99% of Americans who aren’t the 1% of uber-rich are disenfranchised – and have critical needs related to unemployment, cost of living, and a range of other social issues that are either being ignored outright or largely swept under the rug by our finance-focused government.
These young people, accompanied by like-minded Xers and a few Boomers, didn’t get much coverage to start. (I doubt any authentic movement, at the outset, ever does.) The media that did arrive briefly aired the same complaint: “They are a loosely organized group of disaffected youth who are more like hippies and have no real goal,” they yawned. “Nothing to see here, but we’ve done our job by ‘covering’ it in our blogs,” they seemed to say to New Yorkers and anyone outside the Big Apple paying attention. “This too shall pass.”
The only problem is, it hasn’t. And I suspect after this weekend, it isn’t going to.
Now in its 10th day, protestors are very much entrenched at Zuccotti Park (with people across the United States and around the world watching their activities via live-streaming video, as well as sending them supplies and money, even pizza via local vendors). This past Saturday afternoon, there was a large march to Union Park, through Washington Square (and, at times, through moving traffic – which was pretty incredible to watch in real time) – and all seemed to be going well with chants and songs as the trek was covered by Occupy Wall Street’s new media team, such as the young woman Net followers dubbed “50/50 Anchor Lady,” with hair that was half blonde, half brownish-black.
As I say, all was well – that is, until a phalanx of NYC police moved in and started making mass arrests. Twitter was the only way most of us knew it actually happened; the media team, scarily, was picked off shortly after the march gained momentum near Washington Park.
It’s not like no one was aware the police were coming. I myself could hear what was going down on the police scanner, which I alternately monitored while toggling back and forth between live-streaming and searching for news updates on Google.
The tension was building - you could feel it while watching from hundreds of miles away as the protestors kept dodging orange fencing and an increasingly ominous presence of officers. The marchers were peaceful - but resolute in their efforts to keep marching.
Then, right in the thick of things, the live-streaming ended just before the mass arrests and some disturbing instances of outright police brutality (documented and later distributed via cellphone photos). But, I should note, not before the world had already witnessed some of those protestor/cop encounters. It was shocking, actually, to watch people pushed with real force or slammed to the ground when, to my eye, they hadn't provoked anything remotely requiring that kind of police-state response.
I had been one of the hundreds, then thousands, to witness the march from nearly beginning to end – and that was not how I’d expected things to turn out. But, almost on cue (as if to underscore the government's fear this would spread), things escalated quickly and publicly in the glaring view of the Twitterverse, very likely to the chagrin of the NYPD, Michael Bloomberg and anyone on Wall Street who didn’t want this little movement to earn attention or gain credibility.
Within a matter of minutes, thousands of people were logging into the live-streaming site or retweeting the police presence. Yet, the media still weren’t covering the event, except as an aside, almost. I recall the Village Voice reported on several key tweets from Occupy Wall Street – laudable in providing “real time” updates, but I never could tell if they sent an actual reporter to the site at the time. (Back in the day, my own editors would have pushed me out the door. And sent back-up reporters.)
Not to be flip, but if 60-80 people were arrested for dog-fighting, or for wrangling outside a tony nightclub, or protesting at the United Nations, that might have gotten coverage. I’m pretty sure that would have received some attention. But this: In my humble opinion, it got very little. Some, finally - but people had to be hurt, and the police department's reputation tarnished, when neither was necessary if the media were operating as it should.
Since then, media coverage has been defensive. (Said one reporter, and I’m paraphrasing here: “It’s not fair to say Occupy Wall Street hasn’t been covered.” And then a short list of stories was included to prove the point.) And the coverage has been light: I was impressed Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and even Stephen Colbert have noted this is more than dismissive hippy-ism; but no major news organization has (to the best of my knowledge) paid more than the barest attention thus far.
Why?
Perhaps it’s because no one wants a popular movement or peaceful rebellion to spread at a time when many Americans are fed up with their dysfunctional government leaders. We have enough problems, the leaders and media friends might be thinking: Why stir the pot?
Perhaps it’s because they sense, as does Bloomberg, that once a train like this gets going, it can be hijacked by the wrong people and cause real damage. (That, alone, is worthy of another story altogether.) But is that a reason to quell coverage, really?
In the end, though, a large-scale failure to acknowledge and cover this “small” group of protestors – now growing in numbers, thanks to outrage at the rough-housing NYPD, and quickly propagating similar groups in other cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., etc. – is akin to a media blindness.
The media’s job is not to turn a blind eye. The media’s job is to report. Period. Which is yet another reason why Americans are not trusting the modern media. And I have to say, given what I’ve witnessed in recent days in and around Zuccotti Park, that I clearly understand why my profession is much maligned these days.
If people are there, and they have something worthwhile to say – regardless of whether it is popular or potentially alarming or against the political status quo – it is news. Good reporters should be covering it, regardless of their personal political preferences – and let Americans come to their own conclusions.
Is it a media blackout?
Sure seems that way to me. If I can cover one voice about a Gulf War, and contribute to society’s understanding of our greater human experience, then the media can certainly begin paying attention to thousands of marchers - and what appears to be the beginnings of an American movement.
I would call upon our news organizations to acknowledge their collective mistake in ignoring this story, remember that their calling is higher than the profit motive, and begin covering news that engages our thinking skills.
America needs the media now more than ever. To find it absent, while the entire world is watching this unfolding and increasingly important story (and they are) is a travesty and a statement about how far we have fallen as a nation built on freedom of speech and thought.
These are voices worth hearing at this time of trouble and strife. Hundreds of those voices are gathering in New York and other cities right now, representing diverse people and backgrounds and views - and trying to send a message that change, Real Change, must happen.
I want to hear what they have to say. As an American, I need to hear. As a media consumer, I demand to hear. Don't you?
- Posted in
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
161 Comments so far
Show AllThat has to be one of the dumbest comments I've ever read on this website. Congrats. Ever hear that tired old quote, he who does know history is condemned to repeat it? You are condemned. Also, try looking at the 9/11 evidence, which you clearly haven't done. It's good to KNOW something before you post.
Please unplug your keyboard.
Right, LEEZA the liar... no point in looking back on war executed on fixed charges, or torture rendered legal through a twist of semantics, to hold anyone accountable. And no need to deconstruct the truth about 911 to return all those now lost civil liberties, or put a pin prick into the bloated Homeland Security State.
You are really something... You try to act like you're concerned about the pressing issues of the day, while showing up to keep the blanket over the central causative factor that led to this moral abyss.
Obviously someone hands you your talking points. I have NEVER seen PDJ stand up to my exposing his dual identity here, and I have ALWAYS seen others mysteriously appear in attempts to discredit me and rope the discussion back to "terrain" where they can control its direction, entirely.
YOU ARE TRANSPARENT... and in spite of the attacks I've routinely incurred for pointing this pattern out, MANY are getting it more and more. There is NO reason why decent citizens should accept the presence of informants in their midst, nor should they buy their bogus arguments when they posture themselves to sound left leaning only to put a knife into the heart of the opague truths of our time. They want to keep The Truth comotose... so they can control the masses.
About a 200 of us protested the Gulf War in front of our University. And there were organized BUSLOADS of protesters at that time so it is not true to say no one protested the war. That one girl you met was not alone. I remember crying the day they started showing the first strikes on television, like some kind of video game. We were sad and angry and it was only the first time we were at war since I became an adult. Now we have become a war nation and I see that my tears were well-founded. It was the beginning of the end of America as I knew it. Look around. This is not the America of the 70's or even the 80's. We are having to fight just to have public schools for our children and enough food to eat. This is not a nice place to raise your kids.
I suspect that if the modern media had been around when the Boston Tea Party took place....that event wouln't have been covered as the protest would of been seen as a simple affair that the "crazy Colonials" were attempting to get the attention of King George and Parliment, a crisis that would pass into nothingness and held meaningless for the majority of law-abiding folks in the American Colonies.
Lisa, you have lost touch.
I grew up in a family that got three daily papers, and watched the news on TV every night. I became a college student who subscribed to multiple papers and followed the news, and then an adult who worked on a newspaper.
I think it's about five years ago that I stopped getting a daily paper; I never watch TV news. These media aren't ignoring the news; they simply no longer exist at all as news sources, and if you're following them you are wasting your time.
For your benefit, I just counted the news links I open at least once a day (many of them often throughout the day). There are 37, and a host of others I open when I'm bored, but don't follow daily. NONE of these are traditional news sources; no CNN, FOX, Reuters, etc. Every one is a site like Common Dreams.
I get plenty of news, and I'm getting plenty about what's happening in NYC. There's no shortage of coverage of it at all.
Lisa, I recommend that if you aren't getting news, perhaps you're going to the wrong place. The National Enquirer is dead because FOX has taken it's place, with all of the other "media" close behind. If you expect to find your news in such places now, it's not the fault of the news media--it's your fault for not keeping up with where the real news has gone. If you look at traditional newspapers or TV sources, you're only encouraging them to keep doing what they're doing, so don't blame them. . . blame yourself, the consumer who continues to consume.
I can't imagine I'm the only one who realizes this.
But they have nothing worthwhile to say, Lisa. That's the problem. They're just recycling the stuff left over from the 60's, including the chants. (isn't it time for some new chants, for god sakes? ) Anyway, this hodgepodge of demands was the same as it's become usually (I'm surprised there was no paper mache earth or something) The arguments feature: Incipient marxism, class hatred, identity politics, nonsensical demands for 'equality' which isn't, and arguments about 'bailouts' when nearly every darned lefty FAVORED the bailouts to 'save America'. It saved nothing and immensely harmed us. All these banks should have been allowed to fail. The protestors are not angry at the massive waste of someone else's money...they're just angry it wasn't blown on what THEY want.
If the demonstrators are so ineffectual, what's driving the cops to such a frenzy?
Talk about cherry picking the 'best' cops to do the dirty work for the elite. It's a shame and sham on those police working for the wall street bastards when they should be handcuffing those wall street bastards, beating them and hauling them off to jail. Nothing but sociopaths working hand in hand with the psychopaths as it does take a complete lack of conscience for a person 'doing' police work to keep crushing the people when they are already crushed.
As long as I can remember I always believed that a person must have a full fledged personality disorder to feel compelled to tell others what they can do and what they can't do. Sigmund Freud gave that description more than a few years ago.
Society is run by people with personality disorders. Most of our 'Mini-Megalomaniacs' in the Legislative and Executive display their disorders on a constant level. The media propaganda celebrates the cretins over the kind ones, the murderers over the peaceful ones, the right over the left.
The simplest proof of an existing personality disorder is the choice of the affected individual to become either a politician, a judge, a soldier, a cop, a mercenary, one of these private 'security' henchmen, Faux 'News' anchor, or a banker.
Therefor the entire society is befallen by the 'Law and Punishment' disorder and watching television for ten seconds makes it obvious.
It will get a lot better after the real bad.
The irony is you can't cuff and arrest the very people you bailed out with no terms or restrictions applied. Think about it. At the very least they would use the money you loaned them for their criminal defence along with calling in to question the credibility and intelligence of those doing the bailing out.
to my way of thinking, no matter that the msm captures the widest audience, and thus can be considered "powerful", it is a power without actual relevance. ultimately it does not matter that millions of people are being misled by an irrelevant arm of an irrelevant government. the world is filled with far more relevant, if far less numerous individuals and frequently less powerful (at the moment) movements.
relevance is what nourishes and sustains, inspires and invigorages, connects and unifies. those seem to be relegated to background status to the insanity of riches and fame and power. but things are often not as they seem.
are we to believe that when progressive candidates or heretofore marginalized issues get duly recognized, it will be because they have amassed the most money or front page status in the press or lead off the nightly news?
the deeper values and principles we long to see spread throughout the world will not be broadcast, except in the most superficial ways - effectively diminishing or perverting them. best to not depend on anything "mainstream" for validation or respect. it's integrity is way too compromised.
On Amazon I prefer 'Customer Rating' over 'Relevance'. Maybe I should expand this habit into 'politics', too.
Oh, Lisa. ::shaking my head::
Can't you see why the media didn't cover this? Who owns the media? Who is the protest against? Why do you have to stretch this to such thin incredulous reasons to explain why there was a blackout? Why can't you just see the obvious?
By the way, there were lots more than just one lone protestor against the Gulf War. In my little town the largest church in town was over flowing with those gathered against the war.
Of course what they were doing -- protesting -- was offensive to a police state where everyone is happy. To demonstrate, even peacefully, is proof that one is not part of the power structure. Whoever is not with the capitalists is against them, and to be against them is punishable by any force they care to send against you. This is the pedagogy of revolution.
Thanks for this great assessment.
"They" will continue to ignore it until the revolution. Then, they will not be needed. I would expect they'll all be running away - those that survive will not be heard from again.
Until then, it's just practice. Who covers practice?
It's all propaganda.
Excellent story, but it seems that Lisa Romero is a bit naive about the corporate media. They have not been covering news now for over thirty years. Anything that challenges the government or asks questions is ignored. When they have debates the winner of the debate is always chosen beforehand. This gives the public the allusion that the media is unbiased. They show both sides of the story. When they cover protests, marches, or rallies, they lie about their size, their purpose, and their intent. They also show the public that the participants are anarchists, radicals, and crackpots. This paints a picture for the public that these people are not like us. What Television and many of our newspapers are giving us, is not news it is propaganda.
(Play Sound:Applause)
Thank You very much. If people would just take a look at the history of the German media from 1933 to 1945, they would know what they are up to. Apparently, history teaches nothing. It's much like when you read about 'The Party' of Nazi Germany, then just convert 'The Party' into 'The Two Parties' and there you have it.
Trouble is already breathing heavily on our neck.
The MSM can count itself among those like Ratzinger and the rest that did nothing while others were hurt. Those guilty of not "stirring the pot" are these cowards letting others suffer and die to save their couple of dollars over minimum wage jobs.
MSM worms. You are the same as the neighbor that knows kids are being abused next door. You will answer in this world or the next. Karma's a bitch.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Karma is NOT a bitch. It's just Karma. Other than that I agree, of course. The Germans have a proverb for that. It was verified between 1933 and 1945. It goes like this: "As You Shout Into The Forest - So It Echoes Back."
(Wie man in den Wald hineinruft so schallt es heraus.)
But hey, what do the Germans know about all these things?
I have spent forty plus years of my life working in the hospital..their bottom line is and has always been the same..money..at the root they are heartless bastards and every bit as rotten as the pharmacy companies that control their every movement..their fate will be the same as wall street when the 99% turn their focus on their out of control tyranny..like wall street they can be shut down to bare bones..then lets see how their precious profit margin unfolds ..hospitals have truly placed themselves way above any idea/ideal of individual welfare..80% of all drug deaths result from prescribed medicine, much of which is administered in the hospital setting..and as a parting shot, lets compare the united health care ceo's 58,000 dollar per hour salary to joe average senior on fixed income of 1500 dollars per month..a reckoning is coming, and its coming soon
Sorry but actual real life is WAY more complicated than that. Yes the establishment astroturf fake tea party of Sarah Palin opposes the protests, but a lot of grass roots tea partiers are solidly behind us:
http://venturacountyteaparty.ning.com/profiles/blogs/occupy-wall-street-is-going-nationwide?xg_source=facebook
Don't fall for divide and conquer bullshit, the 99% is just 99% and includes friends, family and neighbors who may not self identify as left activists.
Great job, Ms. Romero!
Let's name names: Which outlets are acting like real journalists?
DemocracyNow! is one: http://www.democracynow.org
KPFA / Pacifica radio has given the protests a lot of attention out here in the Bay Area:
http://www.kpfa.org
Smiley and West, Tavis Smiley and Cornell West, on PRI--taking on poverty and financial-sector crimes on a regular basis:
http://www.smileyandwest.com/archives/
And Matt Tiabbi has his eyes on the Bull:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog
Stay focused, everyone!
"One*Demand" My*1040, Individual allocation of tax dollar spending is the best possible way to direct change, and will empower The*People in deciding the future we leave to our children.
Implement + My*1040, iDC + Individual Directed Capitalization... Create a simple system of Check Boxes on the standard 1040 tax form that directs 65% of a taxpayers contribution to be divided equally into slush funds of their choosing. (example: Check Boxes for Dept. of Education, Health Care, Environmental Protection, Social Services, Infrastructure, Justice, Defense etc.) this 65% would then be allocated directly toward their chosen areas of support. The remaining 35% would go into a General Fund for allocation by the elected representative body of government.
The program could also incorporate a voluntary tax percentage increase which would give the individual or corporation a fixed term of Guaranteed Taxation. (example: Voluntary 20% Ten year fixed increase) this gives the tax payer a level of future certainty while providing needed increased revenues on a voluntary basis.
This system gives individuals and corporations the ability to directly fund the areas of social development which they deem most important to their view of improving our situation, and will enable action on every area of change required.
One is neither the problem, nor the solution, one is merely a consequence of the situation, to improve the situation, change the consequence.
As doing the same thing the same way, while expecting different results is as Mr. Einstein pointed out "insanity"
"train like this gets going, it can be hijacked by the wrong people and cause real damage."
Kind of like what has happened on Wall Street and in our halls of government.
To do anything to protect the status quo of these corrupt institutions is far more dangerous than to encourage a popular revolution drawing attention to how we have been betrayed.
WTF!?!?! "protesting a war that, at the time, no one was particularly riled up about. "
What kind of BS are you perpetuating here. The same BS you are criticizing?
Gulf War I (1990) had some of the largest protests every seen in America since the Civil Rights/Viet Nam. We shut down whole cities. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets. I helped organize a protest of 25,000 that shut down the downtown of San Diego. I participated in a protest that drew almost 180,000 people through the street of San Francisco. Seattle's freeways were closed. Atlanta was on fire. Cities across the nation were in a revolution. Yes, the media failed to cover us, but for you to continue the MYTH that 'no one was riled'! WTF!?!!? I truly thought Common Dreams has some sense of history and understanding of the mobilized populous, but I guess Lisa, you're just another reporter in your ivory tower.
The biggest issue is the economy and the biggest cause of the economic collapse is the corporate ownership of the politicians. The cure, therefore is to remove the corporate ownership by demanding, on pain of a nationwide general strike, the removal of the concept of corporate personhood. THAT is what this movement should be about! With removal of corporate personhood and corporate control over government, we'd see the end of two wars, medical bankruptcy, we'd get medicare for all, save Social Security, etc. Corporate personhood is the key to our nation's future.
re: " the removal of the concept of corporate personhood. THAT is what this movement should be about! With removal of corporate personhood and corporate control over government, we'd see the end of two wars, medical bankruptcy, we'd get medicare for all, save Social Security, etc. Corporate personhood is the key to our nation's future."
Hear Hear! My own personal top priority. Go to Move To Amend . org if you haven't already, and pass the word on to everyone about it!
Privatization is Theft!
Deregulation is Corruption!
Corporate Personhood is a Weapon Against We The People!
The signs of protesters and the workshop meetings suggest that there are clear aims. The primitive responses of police and elites, owners of the park suggests that our needs and frustrations are being realised by all. It seems to me that these strategies are a success. Labeling them placing them in the old heirarchy may not be nessessary.
"I would call upon our news organizations to acknowledge their collective mistake in ignoring this story". Lisa, PLEAAASE!
It is no mistake. The MSM represents the other 1%. They are part of the Wall Street, corportocracy. For heavens sake, Lisa, wake up!