There were three quotes that buzzed in my head as I joined the media march that we had been promoting yesterday. The first came from my pal, the filmmaker and “visual poet” Geo Geller, who chose to tag along with me and record my meditations and kvetching (especially about my healing foot which I should have stayed off of, and was not ready for walking, much less marching). Someone called me "Hopalong."

Geo said: "The power of one is better than the power of none.”

And so it was, and more than one but not as many as we hoped, alas. It wasn’t major by any means and was quite overshadowed by a march to save the Seals in Canada, an issue that seems to have generated more excitement than saving democracy in America. That fact was pointed out to me by a reporter from the Globe and Mail of Toronto who came along with us whilst the mighty NY press ignored us to a fault. I explained to him this was a first attempt to join the media issue with the issues of the war in Iraq and is not yet an obvious enough connection to the anti-war crowd that seems happy to just bash Bush over and over and blame it all on the Republicans.

To my surprise it was a Republican who mouthed the next phrase that snuck into my mind — a formulation from none other then the phrase-making war-maker in chief Donald Rumsfeld, who remarked famously: “You fight a war with the army you got.”

WHO WAS THERE

That applied to us to — we were fighting our little media war for media rights against media wrongs with the only ragtag “army” we had. It was small but passionate, racially mixed, alive and drawn from the anti-war activism and media reform work. Some Grannys for Peace were there as well as a Code Pinker, Free Press and Deep Dish were with us, as well as a Globalvisioneer who told me this was her first demonstration ever. Wow.

We would have been more disappointed by the size of the turnout if we didn’t know that this campaign has already generated more than 100,000 emails of protest against media complicity in the war. Our best online campaign ever.

Mediachannel was there but many of the colleagues we respect couldn’t make time for it including our friends at FAIR, MoveOn and even United For Peace and Justice who embraced the idea but didn’t or couldn’t help mobilize for it. Too busy, I guess, to be charitable. It was easy to recognize that big protests take time and organizing efforts (including resources and experience) of the kind we lack. We gave it a try anyway.

Unlike Mussolini, who allegedly had the trains run on time, we were late to the first stop at CBS "Black Rock" headquarters which was surrounded by a construction fence. I got there before the other organizers and posters did and ran into some of the acrimony some activists are famous for: rushing to judgment without any facts. At least one person immediately assumed the worst about my intentions, and then, without listening, stormed off to preserve a sense of self-righteousness. That was not a good start, but it did get better.

We had tried to meet with media executives on the inside before we arrived but no one was willing to hear from us then or when we were in their faces. To them, critical media consumers must be rendered invisible. Hence, there was no there there as I looked up at the building that still houses Walter Cronkite's offices. (Recall that the "most trusted man in America" was forcibly retired years ago, when they made a big deal of enforcing their official 65 retirement age policy.)

I then thought of CBS vet Mike Wallace whose retirement at age 88 made the front page of the NY Times that morning. When asked why he stayed so long, he said “I didn’t know what else to do.” That’s a sentiment I can share.

When the sound system arrived, we explained why were there. Robert Jenson who teaches journalism at the University of Texas supported the march and told us that he discourages students from going into journalism because in the corporate media today, the values he champions — crusading against injustice and exposing government abuse — are hard to come by. We noticed former Mayor Ed Koch getting into a limo out in the street and asked him how we were doing. There was no response.

From there we marched down to NBC, Fox and ABC where Free Press’s Tim Karr and my partner Rory O’Connor waxed eloquently about the sins of big media and the way it served — and serves the war effort. There was some debates with people passing by at Fox who vehemently denied that the fair and balanced network is anything but -- you got it -- fair and balanced.

With more people watching in Times Square there was more energy and visible support for the message. Many in the crowds cheered us on. Reuters had used the occasion to list the names of all the journalists killed in Iraq and call for safety for media workers on the big screen at the corner of Broadway and 43rd. What a great example, they are on the issue and I have nothing but respect for the way their executives express solidarity for media workers and demand independent investigations of incidents in which US and British soldiers have killed or maimed journalists.

(Today’s update: Iraqi Journalists form Committee for Protection - International Journalists Network)

ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS

Down the block at the NY Times, it was business as usual. I tried to engage reporters who were moving rapidly into the building after lunch to listen to us and talk to us. But they fled. I expressed our respect for the Times and explained we wanted them to do a better job. All we saw was the backs of heads of those flying into the building, lest they be seen with us. Reporters can be elitists and want nothing to do with a riff-raff like us in the streets. Its not good for their careers -- if some boss is watching.

I reminded them that that their reporter Judy Miller had admitted how wrong she and her colleagues had been on the WMD issue. The folks I saw did not want to be reminded of THAT! As I noted yesterday, I had earlier submitted an op-ed piece to “the paper of record” explaining why we protested. They got it, but did not publish it. The only media call I got yesterday was from Air America in Minnesota!

The final quote of the day is from the play/film Marat/Sade. Says Marat: “the revolution came and the revolution went and unrest was replaced by discontent.”

Yesterday's march wasn’t a revolution -- far from it -- but it was a moment to take pride in, smaller than I wanted, but more spirited than I expected. At least we had a minion. Our unrest has now, once again, reverted to discontent and it's our job to learn from what went wrong, including our own unrealistic expectations and organizing inadequacies, and resolve to do it better the next time.

Because there will be a next time!

“FOX SUX” PROTESTS IN CHICAGO

Mitchell Szczepanczyk reports:

"About a dozen people attended the lively FOX SUX protest and outreach efforts organized by Chicago Media Action, and in downtown Chicago in the late afternoon and early evening hours on March 15, 2006.

“The protest, despite its relatively small size, had tremendous visibility right outside the studios of Chicago's FOX affiliate, near the heart of Chicago's Michigan Avenue -- the busiest street in downtown Chicago -- and during the evening rush hour -- the busiest time of day. Dozens of Chicago Transit buses passed by the protest increasing the potential outreach, hundreds of flyers were passed out, and the action had an energy and rapport with many passers-by (including a few employees of FOX Chicago).

“Media-themed posters and signs were in abundant supply at the protest, and included signs reading "The media: As liberal as the corporations that own them", "We're watching the news. We'll let you know if we find any.", "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore", and "Deport Rupert Murdoch". (This last sign is ironic since Murdoch is a naturalized American citizen; Murdoch became a U.S. citizen precisely to evade FCC media ownership regulations affecting foreign-born citizens.)…

See: Chicago Media Action

MEDIA MARCH-RELATED: STATEMENT IN LA


Benjamin Parke of the American Friends Service Committee brought the Tell the Truth About the War campaign to the gates of CBS in Hollywood. They too tried to speak to someone there but ended up leaving a statement that said in part:

”Journalism has always had at its core the idea that it exists, in the words of an 1861 Chicago Times editorial, "to print the news and raise hell." Some have looked at it as an avenue to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, but it has always been the art of speaking truth to power…..

"We are outside the gates of Columbia Square today—the Hollywood home of the CBS network affiliate CBS 2 News, and its sister station, KCAL-9—because we are deeply concerned at the state of journalism in the establishment media today. At a time when we are embroiled in a war halfway across the globe, as our communities feel the strain of slashed services for human needs such as health and education, and as our democracy falls under the shadow of centralized, unchecked executive power amid evidence that such power has been used to propagate acts alien to our Constitution and to the idea of a free society—namely torture and warrantless surveillance—we regretfully state that the media establishment in this country has failed in its role of defending the truth…..

“At CBS 2 News, we have seen an emphasis on police pursuits and other reporting on local crimes and accidents rather than on issues that affect the community as a whole. National and international news, if mentioned, is fleeting. Although 85 people died in sectarian violence in Iraq yesterday, March 14, 2005, the Eleven O’Clock News last night had not a single story on the war. Rather, the first nine stories were entirely about crimes and accidents, one of which took place three months ago without any real new developments…

“Despite one CBS 2 News assignment editor’s belief, as stated in his blog on your website, that “our viewers are recognizing that they can turn to CBS2 / KCAL9 for quality news that's actually *meaningful* to them and their families,” the stories which he says he is thinking of—“from pursuits to fires to weather”—lend little confidence in his initial statement. We are dismayed that CBS 2 News is so focused on police pursuits that you give them a special category on the menu of your website’s homepage. We are certainly not asking you to ignore significant crimes and disasters in your local reporting, but we expect you to cover local issues rather than just events of the “When it bleeds, it leads” category. In light of the significant impact that the war is having on our communities, with both economic and human tolls, we expect you to give probing coverage to the war in Iraq and its effects here at home.

"Our message is simple—Uncover the Cover-up:

1. Verify—not just report—official statements of the administration and military on the war, including its initial justification and related issues such as torture and spying.

2. Show the war and provide more accurate and in-depth coverage of the casualties—military and civilian—and other costs of war.

3. Report on the local impact of the war—how money for community needs is going to the war budget.

NEW FILM ON MEDIA COVERAGE OF WAR

Tonje Hessen Schei writes to tell us of a new film on media coverage of the war. Look for it.

"We are now releasing INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION, our documentary about the US media coverage of the war in Iraq. Focusing on the human costs of war, it contrasts the mass media's coverage of the invasion of Iraq with independent reports of the brutal realities on the ground.

“This fall we received an award in Hollywood, and we just had our premiere at UNIFEM’s international Film Festival Through Women’s Eyes, in Sarasota , FL.

“We believe INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION is an important film that breaks the silence of the corporate media. Please help us spread the word. Visit our website at www.independentintervention.com for more information about the film and to view our trailer. DVDs are available on the net, but contact us if you want to join our team and we will send you a copy. We strongly encourage all of you to participate in our grassroots distribution campaign, and screenings of any sort are highly appreciated.

ANTI-WAR ASSESSMENT FROM UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

"According to a CBS poll released Monday (3/13/06), 67% of the U.S. public thinks the Iraq war has not made the U.S. safer, and 59% wants to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. The White House continues to ignore the majority opposition to the war, which has already cost the lives of more than 2,300 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis. After three years of war, Iraq is wracked by violence and threatened with the prospect of civil war, Iraqi civilians are suffering from a lack of basic services, including electricity and clean water, and women’s rights are being eroded.

 

 

AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE MEDIA.