On June 5, 1999, thousands of anti-war activists protested the bombing of Yugoslavia by rallying in Washington, D.C. and marching from the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial to the Pentagon. A June 7 Nexis search of the major American news outlets (including newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, along with ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS‘s NewsHour) revealed that none of them so much as mentioned the protest. (CNN aired brief mentions of the protest, none of which appear in the transcripts of their broadcasts.)
The protesters represented a wide swath of the political spectrum, but they all condemned NATO’s aggression and called for an immediate end to the bombing. Many raised concerns that NATO may be preparing for a long-term occupation of the Balkans. Sounds like not everyone bought the mainstream media’s declarations of a NATO victory.
(See FAIR’s media advisory, “They Call This Victory? Bombing ‘Success’ Must Be Weighed Against Human Cost, Missed Chances for Peace,” 6/4/99.)
You can hear a report from one media outlet that was present– Pacifica Radio‘s Democracy Now!— at www.webactive.com/webactive/pacifica/demnow.html.
ACTION:
Please contact national media outlets and ask why they did not cover the June 5 march on the Pentagon, and why they have sidelined anti-war activists since the start of the bombing.
New York Times
229 W. 43rd St., New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-556-1234
Fax: 212-556-3690
letters@nytimes.com
Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW, Washington, DC 20071
Phone: 202-334-6000
Fax: 202-334-7502
ombudsman@washpost.com
ABC
47 W. 66 St., New York, NY 10023
Phone: 212-456-7777
Fax: 212-456-4297
netaudr@abc.com
NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112
Phone: 212-664-4444
Fax: 212-664-5705
nightly@nbc.com
CBS
524 W. 57 St., New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-975-4321
Fax: 212-975-1893
NewsHour
3620 South 27th St., Arlington, VA 22206
Phone: 703-998-2150
newshour@pbs.org
