One more thing about free speech hero Michael Bloomberg’s shutdown of Occupy Wall Street.
During the early morning raid on the Occupy Wall Street camp journalists were blocked from covering much of what was happening. Josh Stearns from Free Press has a rundown—as he points out, “By dawn, 10 journalists, including reporters from NPR, the Associated Press and the New York Daily News, had been arrested.”
There was a good local TV news segment about the media clampdown, courtesy of the New York NBC affiliate. It’s rare to see an image like this on your TV screen (click the image to watch the report):
I wonder how many results you’d get on a search for “reporters arrested, occupy” on the websites of corpress outlets?
While I’m wondering, ever ponder the process of picking an image such as the one chosen here?
As the song goes …
Every picture tells a story, don’t it?
People squatting on ,and defiling private property does not,and never has had anything to do with free speech, and the right to assemble.
There is a weak link in our democracy. So much depends upon the citizenry possessing relevant and factual information about the effects of our existing policies as well as reasonable approximations of the consequences of legislative proposals. The so-called “fourth estate”, also known as the free press, is pretty much free to report the story however they see fit.
This is not to say that the commercialized free press tends to report out-and out-lies, sometimes they do, but promoting an out-and-out lie is hard to sustain. When the lie is finally exposed, credibility is compromised. A much better way to mislead the public is to focus on red herrings and present the story within the context of a paradigm that obscures the truth.
A contemporary example of this phenomenon is the way the commercialized free press is consistently mischaracterizing the Occupy Wall Street movement. A deceptive narrative that the mainstream media is pitching hard is that OWS is a Democratic Party alternative to the Tea Party, and whereas the Tea Party is opposing big government, OWS is opposing big money. The truth is that both occupiers and rank-and-file members of the Tea Party are opposed to the corrupting influence of big money on our political process. Another truth is that top Democrats as well as top Republicans are recipients of sizable corporate endowments and are beneficiaries of our system of crony capitalism.
So why would the commercialized free press deliberately obfuscate these truths? Read more » http://www.outlierideas.com/2011/11/fourth-estate-accountability-sports.html
Michael e: Take your hateful opinions elsewhere, every single blog you are on you do nothing but shout out your hateful, inaccurate, negative, ignorant, slander and lible, using defamation on everyone you speak of!! No one cares what you think, in fact I would recommend every person on this blog or any others start reporting you not only to the owner of this blog, but to the authorities! You are extreme and eccentric in your thoughts and words and I happen to support both OWS and President Obama and don’t appreciate listening to your BS about them! If you don’t have an intelligent thought or word, keep it to yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Didn’t it sound like a 3rd world country – police attacked protestors and blocked reporters. How many times have you heard that in foreign news?
“When asked why journalists were kept back, Mayor Bloomberg said at a City Hall briefing Tuesday that the NYPD “routinely keeps members of the press off to the side” and did so in this case to protect journalists from getting hurt.”
“New York Times reporter Brian Stelter tweeted that a Post reporter said he was “roughed up” by police, and NY 1 Education reporter Lindsey Christ tweeted that journalists were being “thrown to ground and pushed to wall if they get in front of the wrong officer.””
It sure doesn’t sound like the NYPD went out of their way to protect journalists from being hurt.
Quite a few politicians were favorable towards the Arab Spring, but got awfully testy when it came to peaceful protests in their own country. What a bunch of hypocrites.
Tea pariters showing up at their protests with guns and biligerant attitudes were far more scary and threatening than today’s OWS protesters. Not much coverage was given to TP intimidation and beatings while declaring them heros. The corporate owned media made sure that they covered the issues TP wanted to talk about.
Two months into OWS and the corporate owned media has yet to give attention to the issues sending thousands upon thousands of OWS protesters into the streets. When there are problems the corporate owned media generalizes OWS protesters as rapists and degenerates of society. Our local media sends reporters to cover car accidents, shootings and drugs busts and snow storms. In many ways I feel that journalism is dead and until now, media consumers mostly brain dead by choice.
As to the issue of money in politics, citizens who vote must form and never betray a commitment to identify, promote and elect representatives who will not be beholden to big money and in the mean time work to amend the constitution to eliminate “corporate personhood” and protections granted in the 1886 Supreme Court decision in Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad and the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. FEC granting corporate persons unlimited free speeh in the form of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in campaigns.
Wanda: I believe we have tried to elect representatives who are not beholden to big money. We’ve also signed petitions, called, begged, attended their “townhall” meetings, e-mailed, written letters, only to find that, in most cases, one corporatist is replaced with another. This is why people have taken to the streets. The normal ways of redress of grievances are simply not working.
I agree that the corporate owned media does not focus on the issues that drove people to protest in the streets. Isn’t it interesting that the U.S. which is often first in line to demand government changes when there are popular uprisings in other countries, fights it here, with the media often denigrating and feigning confusion about what OWS really wants, while Republicans condemn it?
It isn’t hard to understand that from 1979-2007, incomes for the top 1% have risen 275% but only 40% for most middle class Americans, nor is it difficult to understand that the U.S. now has one of the worst, if not the worst social mobility when compared to other major democracies.
Nobody needs a list of demands from OWS to know what to do to correct the underlying issues that have brought us to where we are today. Congress knows what to do to begin to turn things around but too many prefer to keep the status quo.
Instead we have a super committee that pushes for drastic cuts to an already frayed social safety net instead of going after the things that caused a near economic meltdown. The pain and punishment are inflicted on people who’ve already been punished so that the money continues to flow to the top. In the meantime, people protest, dodge rubber bullets, pepper spray, jail, clubs and it’s business as usual and, yes, Wanda, to repeat what you said, “the corporate media has yet to give attention to the issues sending thousands and thousands of OWS protesters into the streets.” Out of thousands of people, the media prefers to focus on the bad behavior of a few. That’s the story they want to emphasize for their readers.
“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H.L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”
Part of the letter by Ike to his brother Edgar back in 1954. The time has come for the American people to do that.
I was a newspaper reporter for nearly a decade at a bunch of small-town papers and I always told my family and friends that what you don’t get to see printed in the paper is often far more interesting and informative that what actually does make it into print.
Bloomberg’s Big Brother action and the the corporate media’s shameful failure to inform the public of it is a perfect example of how the media cooperates with the government to keep the proles ignorant and controlled.
This kind of tactic is like The Gas companies who needed a exemption from the clean water act before they could go all out with their fracking ( HYDRO-FRACTURING) madness.
I thought to myself, Hmmmm…I have not asked for an exemption to the clean water act myself lately, why not?….BECAUSE I DON’T PLAN ON POLLUTING
They wouldn’t be moving reporters away if what they were about to do was good. They would be INVITING reporters, wouldn’t they. Pretty simple.
You’re right, Michael. It was around 2005 when Cheney met with heads of energy corporations to formulate his energy plan (drill,baby, drill)? and hydraulic fracking was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act and it’s still exempted. Plans to end that exemption are stalled in Congress, of course.
Isn’t it great to have friends in Congress who can exempt one or two specific industries from federal laws, especially laws that try to protect water supplies?
Off target from the topic but I also wanted to add that the oil industry is exempted as well. It’s known as the Halliburton Loophole. You remember Halliburton of which Cheney was the former CEO. So there he sat on the energy committee, pushing and getting the Halliburton Loophole. Halliburton developed the fracking process in the 1940’s.
You’re right, Wanda, Our troll, a huge Tea-bagger, now has nothing but scorn for folks who protest the outrages they see around them. That’s what happens in a troll when one pretends to love the Constitution, but in fact thinks democracy is a waste of time. Better, says the Bagger, to let Coporations (“the free market”), Wall Street, and their sycophants in the Congress run things. Don’t forget billionaire mayors and their paid cronies too. All heroes to the Bagger minority. Our troll and his fellow libertarian suck-ups are positively dizzy from all the bowing and scraping they’ve been doing, so naturally when they see real democracy lovers, who bow to no one, they get confused, and sometimes pissed off, and pretty soon the talking points recorded on the GOP microchips in their empty skulls begin working over-time. It’s all they’ve got–the stupid, hoary old cliches, the endless demands that we all shut-up and move along. It’s fun to watch them make fools of themselves–their craven obesiance to their masters, said masters who were their alleged enemies when their naive and immediately co-opted “movement” got off the ground not long ago. We see now what their nincompoop bagger congressmen are really up to, what they really want, and it ain’t jobs. One-termers, all of them, elected in a wave of momentary gross stupidity and inaction. Too bad.
TIMN
So wrong my friend.I have said since day one that I wish this demonstration would articulate its platform and clean up it’s act.Then we can weigh it on it’s merits and gain knowledge and understanding from the people who have come there.In the same way the tea party has done.Instead it has become a frightful, disgraceful mess.Take some responsibility will you?
Yeah, young people who have no hope for the future. People who can’t find a decent job. People who’ve lost their homes. People who can’t get medical coverage. What a frightful, disgraceful mess they are.
Elaine…..what do you want?Simple no?
Even more specific….What do you/they want ,from the people who are gazing out of their offices in bewilderment?Is it as simple as………WHAT YOU GOT?
What you say is even more bewildering.
hey, troll. remember when I thought you may have a decent argument in you?
From Wikipedia:
The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787
The United States Constitution is the oldest written constitution (when defined as a single document) still in use by any nation in the world.
Now, we KILLED a bunch of Europeans, stole their property, etc. But the constitution, a document defining what we want from our government, didn’t get finished for…. well…. awhile.
and of course we changed it a couple of times after that.
I added that second sentence on because I thought that it’s at least worth considering/discussing that the OLDEST constitution in the world might need a little tweaking.
But you want OWS to define their platform in 2 months. without peeing somewhere embarrassing?
I’ve been living at my parents house for 2.5 years after receiving a Bachelors in Nursing. So, please excuse my generation for making a bit of an inconvenience.
Carter
hey, moll,You just concluded that OWS, and the founding of this country and the drafting of its constitution ,have similar intentions.Wow that is a leap.I wont pass judgement now as far as the future goes.So far i see no similarity accept in both cases people were pissed off with the status quo.
As far as where you are living…. you seem unhappy with your situation.None of my business.But as i have some background in your field may I say i believe your choice and direction in that field of choice is a very smart one.My guess is you will be rewarded for that choice as opportunities are exploding in nursing.I would recommend that to anyone.If I were a young man again i would possibly take that direction.
I want OWS to at some point….to explain the need for people to be inconvenienced at all over their protest.After all we who may not agree should not be forced to listen.The constitution and judgements after are clear on this.You may not infringe on others rights toward the imposition of your own.Protest over there dude .Out of the street so i can get to work.Understand?And no you can’t pee on my step.Or shit in my flower box.Or have sex on my lawn.Lets follow a few simple rules with manners thrown in okay?
not similar intentions. similar complexity.
Some city sponsored port-a-potty’s would be cheaper than extra cop-hours.
Exploding opportunity my ass as far as nursing is concerned. you know why? We hand out visas like candy in the Philippines. After a year of unemployment I worked briefly for a nursing home where two Filipino new grads worked with me and they didn’t quit when I did because being in America was more important to them than the safety of our clients and their license.
oh, and I have been inconvienced at work because I have to make house calls in oakland. and I honked in support.
Yes I think there is complexity in this protest just waiting to bubble up and be articulated toward a better understanding and outcome.It simply is not there yet.And it is being co-opted by this community activist mentality thats goal is always to stir up peoples prejudices,fears,and unhappiness at their lot in life.It is so disempowering and so very expected under an Obama presidency..
As far as your career choice Im sure there are difficulties in any field as far as being positioned correctly.But nursing moving forward is gold.Pure gold.Decide what you would love to do within nursing, and aim toward that.If you need a bit more specialization ,or education go for it.If you don’t ,but just cant find a good position good luck.It is a great ,and worthwhile field.Everything today is a bit harder.But you have made a smart choice i firmly believe.
Got all that, Carter m? The troll is as the troll does, and welcome aboard, friend. You figured out it’s game. Nicely expressed sentiments, by the way, and as you have been discovering, the troll neither cares nor understands even the most basic concerns of our most honest citizens.
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