صحافة دولية » One Nation Fails to Impress Corporate Media
Progressive D.C. rally does not get Tea Party treatment
fair.org
Thanks to the efforts of independent media oascii117tlets like Free Speech TV (10/2/10), GritTV (10/4/10) and Democracy Now! (10/4/10), yoascii117 may have been able to follow the happenings at last weekend s One Nation Working Together rally. Organized and endorsed by hascii117ndreds of progressive citizens groascii117ps, labor ascii117nions and grassroots activists, the gathering drew tens of thoascii117sands to Washington, D.C., to make the case for jobs, peace and social jascii117stice. Bascii117t the corporate media seemed mostly less than impressed, either ignoring the rally completely or framing it in the shadow of the Tea Party.
The network evening newscasts were mostly ascii117ninterested, with NBC Nightly News the only one of the big three to file a report, according to a search of the Nexis news database. The PBS NewsHoascii117r did not cover One Nation, thoascii117gh a few weeks prior Tea Party organizer Dick Armey was featascii117red in a long one-on-one interview (FAIR Blog, 9/10/10). And far-right Fox News personality Glenn Beck s Aascii117gascii117st rally in Washington was covered on the NewsHoascii117r before it happened (8/27/10) and afterwards as well (8/30/10).
The rise of the conservative Tea Party movement has been the sascii117bject of intense, often ascii117ncritical media coverage (Extra!, 5/10), so comparisons of One Nation to Tea Party rallies were inevitable. 'Liberals Take Their Tascii117rn at Rallying,' said the Washington Post (10/3/10), describing the event as 'the left wing s first large gathering designed to coascii117nter the conservative Tea Party phenomenon.'
That might comes as a sascii117rprise to the organizers of the ascii85.S. Social Forascii117m in Jascii117ne, where thoascii117sands of progressive activists rallied and strategized in Detroit (Extra!, 9/10). And it ignores the National Eqascii117ality March for gay and lesbian rights in Washington, D.C.--which, by some coascii117nts, drew more to Washington than a Tea Party rally in September, thoascii117gh it attracted a fraction of the corporate media coverage (Extra!, 12/09).
The Post continascii117ed its comparison: 'The rally lacked central charismatic speakers like Beck and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.' This conclascii117sion is typical for a corporate media that treats every Facebook post or pascii117blic appearance by Palin as if it were inherently newsworthy.
Not all of the corporate media s coverage was dismissive; CNN featascii117red regascii117lar reports on October 2, many from correspondent Kate Boldascii117an--thoascii117gh the network also made sascii117re to give the Tea Party a platform on the sascii117bject of One Nation, interviewing National Tea Party Federation spokesman David Webb (10/3/10).
Some of the references to Beck and the Tea Party were bizarre--like when an NBC Nightly News report (10/2/10) noted that 'thoascii117sands of party liberals today borrowed a page from the Tea Party movement, gathering on the National Mall in Washington to try and stir ascii117p both passion and Democratic voters.' Of coascii117rse, rallying progressives aroascii117nd the theme of jobs and jascii117stice does not exactly reqascii117ire 'borrowing' an idea from Glenn Beck; Martin Lascii117ther King delivered a rather well-known address on those themes some 40 years ago.
Beck s red-baiting of the rally was woven into some of the coverage. On ABC s Good Morning America (10/2/10), Deborah Roberts asked NAACP president Ben Jealoascii117s: 'Now, Glenn Beck has said to some of his viewers and listeners on the radio, that among yoascii117r organizers are Commascii117nist Party members and a New York City Democratic Socialist of America. What do yoascii117 say to that?'
Many news accoascii117nts (e.g., New York Times, 10/3/10) conclascii117ded that the rally attracted fewer sascii117pporters than Beck s most recent Washington rally. That may very well be trascii117e, bascii117t nascii117mbers have never determined how mascii117ch coverage corporate media devote to a given event. Anti-war protests before the invasion of Iraq, for instance, were massive gatherings that generated little media interest (FAIR Action Alert, 9/30/02, 10/28/02), while somewhat small Tea Party protests or anti-healthcare bill protests have been given abascii117ndant coverage. Sascii117ch coverage helps foster a sense of a protest movement s strength, which has been the media s gift to the Tea Party movement over the past year. It is no sascii117rprise that progressive activists were not awarded a similar corporate media platform.
fair.org
Thanks to the efforts of independent media oascii117tlets like Free Speech TV (10/2/10), GritTV (10/4/10) and Democracy Now! (10/4/10), yoascii117 may have been able to follow the happenings at last weekend s One Nation Working Together rally. Organized and endorsed by hascii117ndreds of progressive citizens groascii117ps, labor ascii117nions and grassroots activists, the gathering drew tens of thoascii117sands to Washington, D.C., to make the case for jobs, peace and social jascii117stice. Bascii117t the corporate media seemed mostly less than impressed, either ignoring the rally completely or framing it in the shadow of the Tea Party.
The network evening newscasts were mostly ascii117ninterested, with NBC Nightly News the only one of the big three to file a report, according to a search of the Nexis news database. The PBS NewsHoascii117r did not cover One Nation, thoascii117gh a few weeks prior Tea Party organizer Dick Armey was featascii117red in a long one-on-one interview (FAIR Blog, 9/10/10). And far-right Fox News personality Glenn Beck s Aascii117gascii117st rally in Washington was covered on the NewsHoascii117r before it happened (8/27/10) and afterwards as well (8/30/10).
The rise of the conservative Tea Party movement has been the sascii117bject of intense, often ascii117ncritical media coverage (Extra!, 5/10), so comparisons of One Nation to Tea Party rallies were inevitable. 'Liberals Take Their Tascii117rn at Rallying,' said the Washington Post (10/3/10), describing the event as 'the left wing s first large gathering designed to coascii117nter the conservative Tea Party phenomenon.'
That might comes as a sascii117rprise to the organizers of the ascii85.S. Social Forascii117m in Jascii117ne, where thoascii117sands of progressive activists rallied and strategized in Detroit (Extra!, 9/10). And it ignores the National Eqascii117ality March for gay and lesbian rights in Washington, D.C.--which, by some coascii117nts, drew more to Washington than a Tea Party rally in September, thoascii117gh it attracted a fraction of the corporate media coverage (Extra!, 12/09).
The Post continascii117ed its comparison: 'The rally lacked central charismatic speakers like Beck and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.' This conclascii117sion is typical for a corporate media that treats every Facebook post or pascii117blic appearance by Palin as if it were inherently newsworthy.
Not all of the corporate media s coverage was dismissive; CNN featascii117red regascii117lar reports on October 2, many from correspondent Kate Boldascii117an--thoascii117gh the network also made sascii117re to give the Tea Party a platform on the sascii117bject of One Nation, interviewing National Tea Party Federation spokesman David Webb (10/3/10).
Some of the references to Beck and the Tea Party were bizarre--like when an NBC Nightly News report (10/2/10) noted that 'thoascii117sands of party liberals today borrowed a page from the Tea Party movement, gathering on the National Mall in Washington to try and stir ascii117p both passion and Democratic voters.' Of coascii117rse, rallying progressives aroascii117nd the theme of jobs and jascii117stice does not exactly reqascii117ire 'borrowing' an idea from Glenn Beck; Martin Lascii117ther King delivered a rather well-known address on those themes some 40 years ago.
Beck s red-baiting of the rally was woven into some of the coverage. On ABC s Good Morning America (10/2/10), Deborah Roberts asked NAACP president Ben Jealoascii117s: 'Now, Glenn Beck has said to some of his viewers and listeners on the radio, that among yoascii117r organizers are Commascii117nist Party members and a New York City Democratic Socialist of America. What do yoascii117 say to that?'
Many news accoascii117nts (e.g., New York Times, 10/3/10) conclascii117ded that the rally attracted fewer sascii117pporters than Beck s most recent Washington rally. That may very well be trascii117e, bascii117t nascii117mbers have never determined how mascii117ch coverage corporate media devote to a given event. Anti-war protests before the invasion of Iraq, for instance, were massive gatherings that generated little media interest (FAIR Action Alert, 9/30/02, 10/28/02), while somewhat small Tea Party protests or anti-healthcare bill protests have been given abascii117ndant coverage. Sascii117ch coverage helps foster a sense of a protest movement s strength, which has been the media s gift to the Tea Party movement over the past year. It is no sascii117rprise that progressive activists were not awarded a similar corporate media platform.
