This is a picture of the Occupy Protests in Zuccotti Park in New York, where the Occupy Wall Street Protests are being held. This picture definitely contrasts with the pictures that have been shown on the news recently. The majority of the pictures and videos of the protests have been negative, with reporters choosing to cover the event when violence erupts. I personally went to Occupy SF, expecting to see hundreds and hundreds of middle class nicely dressed young adults with bold signs and strong beliefs. The media seems to project to characters like this. However, what I really saw was about fifty smelly smokers. So much for objective news.
-Pictures by Ashley Gilbertson for New Yorker
8 comments:
Throughout the Wall Street protest there have been many accusations of media bias from both the left and right. There have been misstatements of facts that news have said like CBS Evening News reporting that hundreds had shown to protest when really there were thousands. Misstatements like that have come to question about biases in the media. Some people choose to go themselves and video tape the accurate portrayal of the Occupy movement. Many people choose to film the occupy movement using their cell phones and upload the video on the internet because they want people to see a depiction of Occupy without internal biases. And who can really blame them? There is some opinionated news coverage on TV like Fox which tends to not favor the movement by calling them groups of lunatics and MSNBC which comments are more supportive of the people who are protesting. I think people, especially teenagers, need to be well informed of what’s going on in the Occupy protest without having too much influence from one side or another. Sometimes the media may try to sway people to go against or for a movement that people are not really sure about.
What a beautiful picture... even if it isn't an accurate representation of the Occupy movement. I agree with Katherine - all news stations are somehow biased. It's impossible not to be; everyone has an opinion that is revealed through the tone of one's voice, the diction one uses, even the angle and subject of a picture.
I find Kevin's point interesting, that only the more presentable protestors are being shown. This probably has to do with credibility. By only using shots of opinionated, middle class citizens, the news makes the movement look more meaningful - or intimidating, depending on the point of view - than it actually might be, in order to gain viewers or make viewers supportive of or against the cause.
Of course, most viewers aren't aware that they're being manipulated, so much of the time whatever the news states is thought of as truth. Again, I agree with Katherine when she says that people should research the movement for themselves to discover what it's really about. After all, as a citizen of the United States, isn't it one's duty to be well informed of the country's issues?
I disagree with Kevin. I haven't seen any media coverage portraying the Occupy Protestors as well dressed and respectable. Most articles and news reports that I have seen show a raucous, eccentric, and noisy crowd that looks as though they haven't showered in a while (which most haven't because they are sleeping in tents).
Because there isn't a leader or even group of leaders that can give a voice to the Occupy Protestors, these people do not really have any manner in which to control their representation. I don't think that they are going to be taken entirely seriously by the media until this is remedied.
I agree and disagree. From what I've seen on the local news, they've shown the respectable protesters and the ones who just want an excuse to cause a raucous. While what makes the biggest impression on viewers are probably the images of vandalism that a minority of protesters have committed, I think our local news stations have done a decent job at showing other kinds of protesters. I've seen some intelligent and calm people interviewed, and the news has shown the more responsible protesters helping local businesses that have been vandalized (kind of unrelated and random, but: it should also be noted that the vandalization of small businesses by "Occupy protesters" proves that the people who have done these things don't understand or truly support the Occupy Movement, which is supportive of small businesses). Unfortunately, these are the people who get attention no matter how much the news may try to show both kinds of protesters because people who act inappropriately are more memorable and interesting.
I agree, and I think that the media has been covering the negative aspects of the Occupy protest much more because the media often likes to bring attention to things people want to see-- something entertaining. Watching and reading about "dirty hippies" vandalizing and defecating all around is more interesting and entertaining than watching respectable, classy-looking people hold up signs in protest. And unfortunately, as Suzy said, watching or reading about something negative is much more memorable. It is a shame because the protest is getting a bad and not completely accurate reputation.
I totally agree with Lexi and Suzy, people usually like a story filled with cautious rather than a boring old news story about a boring protest. The thing that is bad about what the news does is, they usually indirectly take a biased view on a news story by what they show. For the Occupy Protest, by showing all the vandalism and random tent building ,"hippies," it kind of shows the movement is very unprofessional. For many of us, our news station is our only source of current events so when or news station is biased in a kind of sense we are biased. I'm not saying that your news station is lying to you, but remember, one of their goals is high ratings =D.
Being a newspaper photographer, I agree that it is really important to show photographs that relate to the news story and are interesting, which are often shots of violence or unusual behavior rather than peaceful protesting (especially after the first day). However, this does bring up a good question about whether reputable news sources should help their readers be objective / knowledgeable about events or rather just publish stories that would be the most interesting - seeing that many people formulate their own opinions from the media. E.G. Publish a story on the violence but also make mention of the other, more peaceful protestors on a somewhat regular basis.
I agree that the reporters are being biased about the Occupy Wall Street Protests. If they media only focuses on the "negative" side of the protests, that is what their viewers/readers will see, and they will believe that the protests are just disrupting the peace, unless they do further research. Adding on to what Katherine said, the actual footage of the protests serve to fill in what the media is neglecting to show the public. Also adding on to several people's responses, I think that just because the media wants higher ratings, does not mean that they have to sacrifice the truth for it.
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