----- Original Message ----- From: "Info from Doug Hunt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "July 30 in Philly" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "d2k discuss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Praguedc" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2000 10:34 PM Subject: [July30] Pre-Convention Coverage Whitewashes PoliceViolence, Distorts Activists' Agendas > July 30 in Philly - www.unity2000.com > > > > FAIR-L wrote: > > > FAIR-L > > Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting > > Media analysis, critiques and news reports > > > > ACTION ALERT: > > Pre-Convention Coverage Whitewashes Police Violence, Distorts Activists' > > Agendas > > > > July 25, 2000 > > > > Early coverage of the upcoming protests at the Republican and Democratic > > national conventions has followed a familiar pattern: Mainstream media are > > stoking fears about the potential for violence in Philadelphia and Los > > Angeles by rewriting the actual history of police brutality at last year's > > anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle. In its place, media are developing a > > mythology of dangerous protesters who, for unspecified reasons, violently > > overpowered police. > > > > "It is widely agreed that the Seattle police got out-foxed by better > > organized protestors trying to shut down the World Trade Organization > > meeting last year," reported NBC's Fred Francis in a story about the > > conventions (Nightly News, 7/14/00). Francis went on to describe activists > > who attended the "violent" Seattle demonstrations as a "battle-tested" force > > "better trained than the LAPD for street violence." > > > > Widely agreed? Francis must have either missed or discounted the American > > Civil Liberties Union's recent report on the Seattle protests. > > "Demonstrators [in Seattle] were overwhelmingly peaceful," wrote the ACLU. > > "Not so the police." > > > > According to the ACLU's 87-page report, "Out of Control: Seattle's Flawed > > Response to Protests Against the World Trade Organization," the City of > > Seattle's response to the WTO protests was characterized by "unwarranted > > restrictions and outright assaults on citizens and on their basic American > > rights." The "draconian" violations of civil liberties committed by Seattle > > police and officials included widespread use of "chemical weapons, rubber > > bullets and clubs against peaceful protesters and bystanders alike"; > > numerous "individual acts of [police] brutality"; the suppression of free > > speech rights; hundreds of improper arrests; and intimidation and "brutal" > > abuse of arrestees. (See > > http://www.aclu-wa.org/ISSUES/police/WTO-Report.html .) > > > > NBC, ABC and CBS all ignored the release of the ACLU report, as did CNN. The > > Seattle Times is the only major American newspaper to have covered the > > ACLU's findings (7/5/00). > > > > Yet the media haven't forgotten Seattle-- mainstream reports on the upcoming > > convention protests consistently refer to them as follow-ups to Seattle, and > > frequently ask whether authorities in Philadelphia and Los Angeles will be > > able to avoid a similar scenario. But which scenario? > > > > One ABC World News Tonight report (7/23/00) asked what lessons Philadelphia > > police have learned from Seattle, and how they will be applied to the > > convention. According to reporter Jim Sciutto, Philadelphia police observers > > in Seattle saw protesters "at times playing to the television cameras" by > > feigning injury. Sciutto's report features, without rebuttal, a Philadelphia > > police lieutenant claiming that at the sight of a camera, activists are > > trained to "fall down and start screaming and yelling whether you hit them > > or not." ABC's report made no mention of any substantive allegations of > > police brutality in Seattle. > > > > When riots erupted in Los Angeles on June 19 after the Lakers won the NBA > > Finals, several news outlets discussed the random acts of vandalism as > > though they were comparable to the protests planned for the Democratic > > convention. "Los Angeles officials hope that the convention crowd will > > exercise more self-restraint than the Lakers crowd," reported the NBC > > Nightly News (6/20/00). The CBS Evening News (6/20/00) made the same > > comparison, reporting that officials promised "much less access for > > potential troublemakers" at the convention than there had been at the Lakers > > game. CBS voiced skepticism however, adding, "but that's what they said in > > Seattle.... And some of those [protest] groups have already announced > > they're coming here." > > > > What emerges from this coverage is an image of activists as a paramilitary > > mob preparing to take to the streets to frustrate and discredit the police. > > This distorted view has been helped along by the three major networks' > > failure to discuss in any depth protesters' critiques of the conventions. > > CBS mentioned that Los Angeles anarchists would protest in order to "shine > > the spotlight on economic injustice" (7/10/00); NBC (7/20/00) noted that the > > protesters' message is "simply that the political parties have been taken > > over by big money interests." Neither network featured any further > > examination of the activists' political positions. > > > > Demonizing activists and ignoring police brutality may imbue police > > departments with a sense that they can operate with impunity-- or at least > > without fear of serious scrutiny from the press. This media whitewashing may > > heighten the risk that citizens assembling to speak out at the conventions > > will face police violence. > > > > ACTION: Please contact the media and urge them to provide more balanced > > coverage of the protests at the Republican and Democratic conventions than > > they did of last year's protests in Seattle. Acknowledging the ACLU's > > findings about the growing problem of anti-protest police brutality would be > > one way to improve coverage. Taking activists' politics seriously would be > > another. > > > > For more information on the protests planned for the Republican Convention > > (7/31/00-8/4/00), visit http://r2kphilly.org/ . For info on actions at the > > Democratic Convention (8/14-17/00), visit http://www.d2kla.org/ . > > > > CONTACT: > > NBC Nightly News > > Phone: 212-664-4971 or 202-885-4259 > > Fax: 202-362-2009 > > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > ABC World News Tonight > > Phone: (212) 456-4040 > > Fax: (212) 456-4297 > > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > CBS Evening News > > Phone: (212) 975-3691, (202) 457-4385 > > Fax: (212) 975-1893 > > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if > > you maintain a polite tone. Please cc [EMAIL PROTECTED] with your > > correspondence. > > > > ---------- > > > > Feel free to respond to FAIR ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ). We can't reply to > > everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate > > documented example of media bias or censorship. And please send copies of > > your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses, to us > > at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . > > > > FAIR ON THE AIR: FAIR's founder Jeff Cohen is a regular panelist on the Fox > > News Channel's "Fox News Watch," which airs which airs Saturdays at 7 pm and > > Sundays at 2 pm (Eastern Standard Time). Check your local listings. > > > > FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 120 stations in > > the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit > > http://www.fair.org/counterspin/stations.html . > > > > Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra! > > For more information, go to: > > http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html . Or call 1-800-847-3993. > > > > You can subscribe to FAIR-L at our web site: http://www.fair.org , or by > > sending a "subscribe FAIR-L enter your full name" command to > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Our subscriber list is kept confidential. > > > > You may leave the list at any time-- just send a message with "SIGNOFF > > FAIR-L" in the body to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . > > > > FAIR > > (212) 633-6700 > > http://www.fair.org/ > > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > list administrators: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > Doug Hunt -- > Aspiring stone in the shoe of the dominance culture. > > "Fear not the path of the truth because of the lack of people > walking on it.". - Fadia Rafeedie > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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