No Need For Media To Cover Wall Street Protests When Every Citizen Has A Camera

September 26, 2011 @ 1:44PM

No Need For Media To Cover Wall Street Protests When Every Citizen Has A Camera

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News

The protesters began arriving Saturday, September 17^th; anywhere between 500 to 2,000 activists depending whom you believe, swarming Manhattan’s financial sector in an operation they called Occupy Wall Street.

Their goal, to put it simply, was to bring reform to the country’s financial structure - to end corporate greed and reduce the gap between the rich and the poor – things that every president has failed to do in the last several decades.

Inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, they had vowed to occupy Wall Street for weeks, even months.

Despite accusations of a media blackout, there were a handful of mainstream news reports that emerged in the beginning, but not much after that. CNN even provided a preview the day before.

And when the media finally did bother to report on it again after the fifth day of occupation, it took on a very condescending tone, especially the New York Times piece.

The group’s lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgably is unsettling in the face of the challenges so many of its generation face — finding work, repaying student loans, figuring out ways to finish college when money has run out. But what were the chances that its members were going to receive the attention they so richly deserve carrying signs like “Even if the World Were to End Tomorrow I’d Still Plant a Tree Today”?

But the Times piece emphasized exactly what is going on in this country.

People are pissed off but the media, corporations and politicians are just not getting it or just don’t care to get it.

Perhaps the protesters’ message is convoluted.

Perhaps it does not get condensed into a one-page press release to simplify it for reporters.

Perhaps the issues facing our country today are a little too complex to summarize in a couple of sound bites.

But what is taking place in New York as we speak and what will take place this afternoon in Occupy Seattle is part of an ongoing movement that is just now finding its voice.

The truth is, it will never be just one voice, but many voices. And that can be thwarting for journalists who are so dependent on flacks to provide them information.

Unlike previous demonstrations against corporate greed, this has remained relatively peaceful – no broken shop windows or overturned cop cars - which is why the media didn’t find it too exciting.

It wasn’t until a week into the protest when police began making mass arrests that the media started covering it in earnest.

But by then, it didn’t really matter because the protesters were doing a fine job of disseminating information themselves through Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.

Not suprisingly, NYPD began targeting photographers, according to Gothamist:

Witnesses, including our own photographer, tell us that the NYPD has been specifically targeting photographers and videographers for arrest. Two protestors who were maintaining the live video feed of the protests were arrested on Saturday, the first claiming that she was detained solely because she was holding a camera. "Those are the first people the police go after," protest organizer Patrick Bruner tells us. "They're always the first to get held up."ore than 80 protesters on Saturday on baseless charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

More than 80 people were arrested on Saturday, mostly on baseless charges like disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, which are the old standby charges when a crime has not been committed.

Here's a collection of photos that show aggressive police tactics. And here are more photos and coverage.

Below are just a handful of videos that are making the rounds on the internet. They’ve all received hundreds of thousands of views in only a matter of days, proving that the mainstream media is becoming more obsolete with each passing day.

The first three videos show the typical overly aggressive tactics used by police to crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, including one where an officer wearing a white shirt pepper sprays a pair of women for no reason.

Activists determined that officer was NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna.

And the fourth video is a series of conversations with protesters as to what exactly they are trying to accomplish.

It's too bad the New York Times didn't bother to interview those people.

Comments

Elliott

7 months ago

I'm a little uncomfortable with the statement: "Surprisingly, only one photographer has been arrested so far, even though NYPD arrested more than 80 protesters on Saturday on baseless charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest."

Given what we have seen in the past we can certainly legitimately question the use of both of these charges. However, to flat out say they are baseless in all 80 cases is not well thought out. It is entirely in the realm of possible and likely that some of these people came with the INTENT of getting arrested for not following *lawful* orders. We can certainly question these arrests as heavy handed but to dismiss all of them outright is poor journalism.

I'm sure many of the people will have the charges dropped, but many will not because they were actually breaking the law. Why don't we look at each case and see what is true..

Carlos Miller -...

Pixiq Expert

7 months ago

Disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges are always used when police can't find an actual that was broken.

We call these contempt-of-cop charges.

If you look at the videos, you can see police were the aggressors.

Elliott

7 months ago

I understand that they are the default charges.. And having read this blog since '08 I completely understand contempt-of-cop.

These videos don't cover all 80 arrests. I fully agree the cops were the agressors in the videos, as they are in MOST of the videos you post about.

I am challenging the generalization that ALL the charges were bogus. I think that is more than a bit much..

My Rights USA

7 months ago

Some of these videos are definitely disturbing.

Check out this story:

NYPD Reportedly Targeting Photographers At Occupation Of Wall Street

http://gothamist.com/2011/09/26/nypd_reportedly_targeting_photograp.php

Carlos Miller -...

Pixiq Expert

7 months ago

Thanks, I have since included that in the story.

Iroc

7 months ago

Main Street media will not get involved and start reporting if they can get away with it.

The protests are aimed at the Corporate Elite aka Main Street Media's paycheck signers.

You just don't shit where you eat.

KBCraig

7 months ago

The major media can't cover this, because it's not simplistic enough for them. There are no simple images of windows being smashed or private property rights being violated.

There is not a single unifying message, and the protesters don't necessarily have a lot in common. They're not raging anti-capitalist faux-"anarchist" communists, like we see protesting G8 conferences. They don't fit a ready-made stereotype. They politely discuss corporatism and fascism, and use those terms correctly.

There are left-leaning protesters, there are anarchocapitalists, and there are Ron Paul/Tea Party supporters there too. Some are seeking government accountability, others are protesting TARP bailouts.

So long as the major media are too stupid, and believe their audiences are too stupid, to grasp and discuss issues without resorting to tissue-thin caricatures, we won't see any meaningful coverage.

Carlos Miller -...

Pixiq Expert

7 months ago

You nailed it.

Elliott

7 months ago

I have to agree..

Luc

7 months ago

The mainstream media is controlled by globalist. If you want to wake up, watch The Obama Deception. It should be called The Left Right Deception.

The Obama Deception HQ Full length version
http://youtu.be/eAaQNACwaLw

dave

7 months ago

RE:Perhaps the issues facing our country today are a little too complex to summarize in a couple of sound bites.

How's this?
We (the 99+% of us) are being/have been robbed through "finincial instrument manipulation" by institutionalized robber barons(aka plutocrat punks) that are robbing us without having to put their own butt on the line in any way.

Live feed http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/occupywallstreet

marklyon

7 months ago

I actually went down to check out the protest on Sunday. The cops were not bothering anyone, including me (I specifically photographed the cops and some of their equipment, including the "observation tower" that seems like a particularly bad place to be in a riot).

I found unintentional humor, though, when I encountered a woman explaining her protest against corporate freeloaders via iPad (a device made by a company that offshored over $10b last year to avoid US taxes).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklyon/6183298789/

Beniamino

7 months ago

I could be wrong, but the left-most cop in that lead photograph looks very much like Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, the American hero who allegedly maced "Occupy Wall St." protestors on Saturday.

Bergman

7 months ago

Are the mainstream media (or at least selected companies) really asserting that not speaking with a single voice invalidates a political position?

By that standard, only corporations, government agencies and lobbying organizations are capable of valid political speech.

Anthony

7 months ago

I am taking a trip down to NYC this Saturday to photograph this

Anthony

7 months ago

I am taking a trip down to NYC this Saturday to photograph this

marklyon

7 months ago

Print a copy of the NYPD Photography Letter and keep with you.

http://t.co/IPcQmELF

Alexander

7 months ago

I hope the 80,or,so that have been arrested are Class Mates of the children of these puss sucking cops.
Perfect time to show them that their father/mother don`t really give a damn about their future,at all,and that their parents are anti American fools.
Kids of the Cops: when you parent(s) put you in to bed,and say;I love you! he/she is lying,and you can rest assured that the future they a forging for you will be a living hell.
Sweet Dreams! Children of the Devils.Sounds like a Horror Movie dosn`t it..but it ain`t! It`s LIVE!!

Rail Car Fan

7 months ago

Well "Johnny (Cops Can Do NO Wrong) Law". How you going to spin this one..!!..?

Rail Car Fan