'Nothing to See Here' Headlines Conceal Police Violence at Dakota Access
The New York Times (11/21/16) gets a failing grade for its headline over a report on escalating police violence against Native American activists and others defending the Missouri River against the Dakota Access Pipeline:
16 Arrested at North Dakota Pipeline Protest
Sorry, New York Times-when more than 470 people have been arrested opposing the pipeline since August, that's not the news. Nor did the print edition headline--"16 Arrested at North Dakota Pipeline Protest as Tensions Continue"--add anything.
No, the news in the story came in the second paragraph, where reporter Jonah Engel Bromwich wrote that "officials also defended their use of fire hoses against protesters the night before, despite the below-freezing weather."
Perhaps Times editors thought that wasn't news, because police use of "water cannons" against demonstrators was mentioned in an AP report that ran on the Times website the day before (11/20/16) under the anodyne headline "Police, Protesters Face Off at Dakota Access Pipeline." If that was the case, editors could have found more pressing information than the arrest count in the eighth paragraph of the latest story:
Dallas Goldtooth, a spokesman for the Indigenous Environmental Network, said in a phone interview on Monday that the Oceti Sakowin medical team, which had been working in tandem with medics from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, had reported that nearly 200 people were injured and 12 people were hospitalized for head injuries. One protester went into cardiac arrest and was revived by the medic team, he said.
NPR's website (11/21/16) likewise reported the story of police violence leading to widespread injuries under an innocuous headline: "Police, Protesters Clash Near Dakota Access Pipeline Route," as did ABC News (11/21/16) with its "Hundreds of Dakota Access Protesters Clash With Police." This "clash" framing--also utilized in headlines on CBS (11/20/16) and CNN (11/20/16)--implies a parity between police in military vehicles, employing water cannon, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber-coated bullets and concussion grenades (one of which may have cost an activist her arm), on the one hand, and basically unarmed civilians on the other. (Police say one officer was hit in the head by a thrown rock.)
One almost gets the sense that editors writing headlines like these have enlisted themselves on the sheriff's team, waving spectators away with a "nothing to see here, folks."
The Washington Post (11/21/16) got the news into the headline, but framed it from a police perspective: "Police Defend Use of Water Cannons on Dakota Access Protesters in Freezing Weather."
Some headlines did a better job of focusing on what was actually new while conveying a sense of the shocking violence employed by militarized police against people defending their water supply:
- "Officers Douse Dakota Access Oil Pipeline Protesters With Water in Subfreezing Weather" (Denver Post, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Pipeline: Protesters Soaked With Water in Freezing Temperature" (NBCNews.com, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Access Pipeline: 300 Protesters Injured After Police Use Water Cannons" (Guardian, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Access Pipeline Protester May Lose Her Arm After Small Explosion, Activists Say" (LA Times, 11/21/16)
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just three days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The New York Times (11/21/16) gets a failing grade for its headline over a report on escalating police violence against Native American activists and others defending the Missouri River against the Dakota Access Pipeline:
16 Arrested at North Dakota Pipeline Protest
Sorry, New York Times-when more than 470 people have been arrested opposing the pipeline since August, that's not the news. Nor did the print edition headline--"16 Arrested at North Dakota Pipeline Protest as Tensions Continue"--add anything.
No, the news in the story came in the second paragraph, where reporter Jonah Engel Bromwich wrote that "officials also defended their use of fire hoses against protesters the night before, despite the below-freezing weather."
Perhaps Times editors thought that wasn't news, because police use of "water cannons" against demonstrators was mentioned in an AP report that ran on the Times website the day before (11/20/16) under the anodyne headline "Police, Protesters Face Off at Dakota Access Pipeline." If that was the case, editors could have found more pressing information than the arrest count in the eighth paragraph of the latest story:
Dallas Goldtooth, a spokesman for the Indigenous Environmental Network, said in a phone interview on Monday that the Oceti Sakowin medical team, which had been working in tandem with medics from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, had reported that nearly 200 people were injured and 12 people were hospitalized for head injuries. One protester went into cardiac arrest and was revived by the medic team, he said.
NPR's website (11/21/16) likewise reported the story of police violence leading to widespread injuries under an innocuous headline: "Police, Protesters Clash Near Dakota Access Pipeline Route," as did ABC News (11/21/16) with its "Hundreds of Dakota Access Protesters Clash With Police." This "clash" framing--also utilized in headlines on CBS (11/20/16) and CNN (11/20/16)--implies a parity between police in military vehicles, employing water cannon, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber-coated bullets and concussion grenades (one of which may have cost an activist her arm), on the one hand, and basically unarmed civilians on the other. (Police say one officer was hit in the head by a thrown rock.)
One almost gets the sense that editors writing headlines like these have enlisted themselves on the sheriff's team, waving spectators away with a "nothing to see here, folks."
The Washington Post (11/21/16) got the news into the headline, but framed it from a police perspective: "Police Defend Use of Water Cannons on Dakota Access Protesters in Freezing Weather."
Some headlines did a better job of focusing on what was actually new while conveying a sense of the shocking violence employed by militarized police against people defending their water supply:
- "Officers Douse Dakota Access Oil Pipeline Protesters With Water in Subfreezing Weather" (Denver Post, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Pipeline: Protesters Soaked With Water in Freezing Temperature" (NBCNews.com, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Access Pipeline: 300 Protesters Injured After Police Use Water Cannons" (Guardian, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Access Pipeline Protester May Lose Her Arm After Small Explosion, Activists Say" (LA Times, 11/21/16)
The New York Times (11/21/16) gets a failing grade for its headline over a report on escalating police violence against Native American activists and others defending the Missouri River against the Dakota Access Pipeline:
16 Arrested at North Dakota Pipeline Protest
Sorry, New York Times-when more than 470 people have been arrested opposing the pipeline since August, that's not the news. Nor did the print edition headline--"16 Arrested at North Dakota Pipeline Protest as Tensions Continue"--add anything.
No, the news in the story came in the second paragraph, where reporter Jonah Engel Bromwich wrote that "officials also defended their use of fire hoses against protesters the night before, despite the below-freezing weather."
Perhaps Times editors thought that wasn't news, because police use of "water cannons" against demonstrators was mentioned in an AP report that ran on the Times website the day before (11/20/16) under the anodyne headline "Police, Protesters Face Off at Dakota Access Pipeline." If that was the case, editors could have found more pressing information than the arrest count in the eighth paragraph of the latest story:
Dallas Goldtooth, a spokesman for the Indigenous Environmental Network, said in a phone interview on Monday that the Oceti Sakowin medical team, which had been working in tandem with medics from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, had reported that nearly 200 people were injured and 12 people were hospitalized for head injuries. One protester went into cardiac arrest and was revived by the medic team, he said.
NPR's website (11/21/16) likewise reported the story of police violence leading to widespread injuries under an innocuous headline: "Police, Protesters Clash Near Dakota Access Pipeline Route," as did ABC News (11/21/16) with its "Hundreds of Dakota Access Protesters Clash With Police." This "clash" framing--also utilized in headlines on CBS (11/20/16) and CNN (11/20/16)--implies a parity between police in military vehicles, employing water cannon, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber-coated bullets and concussion grenades (one of which may have cost an activist her arm), on the one hand, and basically unarmed civilians on the other. (Police say one officer was hit in the head by a thrown rock.)
One almost gets the sense that editors writing headlines like these have enlisted themselves on the sheriff's team, waving spectators away with a "nothing to see here, folks."
The Washington Post (11/21/16) got the news into the headline, but framed it from a police perspective: "Police Defend Use of Water Cannons on Dakota Access Protesters in Freezing Weather."
Some headlines did a better job of focusing on what was actually new while conveying a sense of the shocking violence employed by militarized police against people defending their water supply:
- "Officers Douse Dakota Access Oil Pipeline Protesters With Water in Subfreezing Weather" (Denver Post, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Pipeline: Protesters Soaked With Water in Freezing Temperature" (NBCNews.com, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Access Pipeline: 300 Protesters Injured After Police Use Water Cannons" (Guardian, 11/21/16)
- "Dakota Access Pipeline Protester May Lose Her Arm After Small Explosion, Activists Say" (LA Times, 11/21/16)