Misreporting the war and not reporting the anti-war: Britney Spears not sighted at Seattle anti-war rally

author : Mark Jensen topic : Media | Iraq Occupation

by Mark Jensen, United for Peace of Pierce County (ufppc)

october 28, 2007—A review of the mainstream media organs of the Pacific Northwest shows that they downplayed and misrepresented a strong and significant outpouring of antiwar protest in covering the End the War Now march and rally in Seattle on Saturday, October 27.

king 5’s Jesse Jones deserves a giant ufppc Raspberry Award for Worst Reporting for making three glaring errors in his 25-word lead: “Close to 2,000 people marched through Seattle protesting the war in Iraq Saturday, on the fifth anniversary of the Senate vote that approved the war.”

First of all, the number of protesters participating Saturday was not 2,000 but more on the order of 5,000 to 6,000—we know, because we were there and we counted them ourselves. (There were five busloads from Portland alone, as well as contingents from every sizeable community in the Pacific Northwest—facts that also went unreported.)

Second, the 77–23 Senate vote referred to by king 5’s Jones took place on October 11, 2002, not October 27, 2002.

Third, the congressional vote in question did not “approve the war.” Reread it yourself if you have any doubts on that score. No, Congress did not “approve the war,” it authorized the use of US military forces against Iraq if certain conditions were met. (For an argument that the record now demonstrates that the conditions set forth by Congress were not met, and that it is now a matter of historical fact that the president lied his way into war, visit the ufppc website at http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2645/29 .)

The absence of any mention whatsoever of the predominant impeachment theme at Saturday’s protest, despite the fact that polls show about half of all Americans are in favor of impeachment, is remarkable and significant.

No wonder a large sign seen on Saturday read “democracy/hypocrisy.”

Moving on to other reports: the Seattle Post-Intelligencer avoided disputes about how many marchers there were by putting the number, unhelpfully, at “thousands.”

Tom Paulson of the Post-Intelligencer observed: “Though many of the speaker comments, and placards, at the protest were unsurprisingly hostile to the Bush Administration, a significant number also fired salvoes in the direction of the Democrats for so far failing to take any meaningful steps toward ending the war.”

Paulson deserves a ufppc Politics of Fear Award for adding, despite the fact that there was not a single arrest—not even, as far as we know, a single untoward incident during the protest—that “Seattle police on bicycles closely monitored black-clad anarchists, many with handkerchiefs covering their faces,” and that a “young Republican” complained of marchers: “These people are guilty of sedition. It’s a disgrace.”

It’s the printing of this remark in this context and as the concluding sentence that’s a disgrace, in our opinion.

There was an anxious edge to many of the banners and handouts on Saturday. The possibility of an attack on Iran, of a nuclear explosion in an American city, and of the declaration of martial law in the US were reiterated themes, and one middle-class couple was seen carrying a large banner emblazoned with the words “recognize fascism.”

But reporter Dominic Gates of the Seattle Times didn’t see it, apparently. He deserves a ufppc Positive Thinking Award for an upbeat piece for calling the mood of Saturday’s march “buoyant in the sunshine as young and old mixed easily.”[4] (We admit his case was helped by his giving a certain member of ufppc the last word in his article.)

The Olympian deserves a ufppc Local Beat Award for its brief article calling attention “[a]bout 200 people [who] rode in a caravan to Seattle on Saturday to join thousands of others demonstrating in a National Day of Action against the war in Iraq.”

Alone among the region’s major dailies, the Tacoma News Tribune failed to print or post any story on Saturday’s End the War Now rally and march, contenting itself with a short Associated Press article on nationwide protests that included two sentences on the Seattle protest.

For this journalistic feat Tacoma’s hometown paper is once again richly deserving of a ufppc Blind Eye Award.