DC Protest - Where's the Media Coverage?

Largest Protest since Vietnam

Washington, DC, Sep 25 - Kicking off three days of actions aimed ultimately at pepressuring the US government to pull troops out of Iraq, scores of protesters converged on Washington, DC yesterday for an all-day protest that included an array of speakers, a march past the White House and a concert that lasted well into the early morning hours. Estimates of the demonstration’s size ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 protesters.

Although I rarely watch cnn, I did check in a few times this weekend and didn't hear a word about the Iraq war protest that happened in DC this weekend.

They apparently did report it, but I must have missed it. cnn

Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, noting that organizers had hoped to draw 100,000 people, said, "I think they probably hit that."

Did anyone who watches TV news see anything about the protests? They occurred in San Francisco, LA, Seattle, Salt Lake City... All around the country and the world.

I just find it curious.

You know I haven't even noticed it on google news. No one has even posted about it on ATSNN.
The word protest does not show up on CNN's homepage or on Fox's site.
I'm the first to reply to this thread after its been up for almost 3 hours.

It almost seems like the only people who care are the ones that attended the protests. Perhaps this news is being drowned out by coverage on RITA.

There was also a prowar rally after this protest. Only 100 or so people showed up I guess. at CNN

You know, I'm pretty shocked. I mean regardless of what your position on the war is, the fact that that many people marched in Washington and none of the major networks seemed to have covered it!

I thought maybe they would have even stuck video on their websites...

Nope.

CNN

In the face of destruction (1:59)
Victims vow to rebuild (2:18)
Sick of running (2:10)
Firsthand video of flood (3:24)
Cheney released from hospital (1:10)
Bush on natural disasters (:59)
Bush attends hurricane briefing (8:00)


MSNBC

Beaumont gets hit by Hurricane Rita
Houston breathes a sigh of relief
What will happen with gas prices?
FEMA wants to avoid mistakes with Rita
Galveston dodges worst of Rita
Bush visits FEMA officials
Helping out after evacuee bus explodes
Beaumont mayor discusses Rita's aftermath
Some Galveston residents stay put despite warnings
More storm damage in New Orleans


FOX

Ripple Effect
Serious Damage
National Plan
Going Home
Task Force Coordination
Cleanup Operation
Chief Focus
Rising Tensions
Levee Animation
Rita's Fury
Path of Destruction
Assessing the Damage
Hurricane Animation
Refineries Down
Levees Breached
Important Observer
Calls for Budget Cuts
Lessons Learned
Senate Support
Richardson's Take
'This Is a Big Storm'
Prepared for Disaster
For or Against? (on Roberts)
Debate Heats Up (on Roberts)

Just saw the ATSNN article. And I have to say, something is definatly wrong. I don't reallly care whether or not it was nessesary war, but really 300,000 people is hard not to notice. I wonder if some sort of under the table press blackout is going on. Because really, so long as the major mainstream news agencys don't report it, most Americans will never know.

I live about an hour from downtown DC, I didn't hear a peep.

One thing I've come to realize about the news media is that ratings are more important than anything.
Hurricanes and bombings is what seems to draw in viewers and that is what they will focus on.

This is why us ATSers need to draw attention to this thread. I would be surprised if the ATSNN story gets voted up, it is very late on a Sunday for North America. [Edit: I've just been surprised ]

The only good news is free news.
The big guys, I feel, are looking for good ratings, not good reporting.

[edit on 25/9/2005 by Umbrax]

You know, I was looking for a comparative list of the largest demonstrations to have taken place in Washington, DC and came up dry.

Can anyone find such a list?

The closest I found by piecing it together myself was:

The largest demonstration during the Vietnam War was 250,000.

The 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington drew 250,000 participants.

The Million Man March as low as 650,000 or as high as 1.1 million.

The Abortion Rights March at 500,000.

So what does that make this? Third, fourth, fifth, or sixth largest march in Washington in US history?

Eh, war protest? 300,000 people? who cares, im more concerned about the shark attacks

I just came across this.

Today, the corporate media defensively plays its pathetic games, ignoring and misrepresenting what happened yesterday in Washington, D.C. But those who participated and bore witness, know that this growing movement against the U.S. led, corporate global empire will never be turned back and will never be defeated.
www.axisoflogic.com...

Others are noticing the media treatment of this event also.

I watch cnn pretty regularly but am bad with names so I'm not sure of the anchor.

There was mention the night of the protest when the male night anchor was covering national newspaper headlines.

I believe it was when he reached the washington times, they had a blip in the lower right corner of the front page, he mentioned it, and a swarm of "conspiracy" e-mails (regarding their lack of coverage) that they had recieved.

He apologized saying it was a "one story day" (rita) and that there was no conspiracy to omit.



Just hit the site and it was Aaron Brown who made mention saturday night.



[edit on 26/9/05 by redmage]

Originally posted by Umbrax
You know I haven't even noticed it on google news. No one has even posted about it on ATSNN.
The word protest does not show up on CNN's homepage or on Fox's site.
I'm the first to reply to this thread after its been up for almost 3 hours.

It almost seems like the only people who care are the ones that attended the protests. Perhaps this news is being drowned out by coverage on RITA.

I just went to yahoo.com and typed in: anti war rally and pulled up some sites...if you have time, check them out.

thank you,
starr

I copied an excerpt below from: USA TODAY 9/26/05


We mean business, George Bush," Sheehan said, "and we're going to go to Congress and we're going to ask them, 'How many more of other people's children are you willing to sacrifice for the lies?' And we're going to say, 'Shame on you. Shame on you for giving him the authority to invade Iraq.' "


According to the news article, protesters may be arrested if they do not leave the WhiteHouse gates.

Thank you,
Starr




















"

I know coverage of Rita was and is inportant. But there are 24 hours in a day. Do we need constant coverage of Rita? And don't forget Cheney's knees and Desperate Housewives! On cnn's "Most Popular' link, Desperate Housewives is #1! Followed by the Aruba kidnapping suspect, THEN Rita, Little Rascal's 'Butch' is dead and not a word about the protest. No wonder the TV news sucks! But it's what the people want. They don't want to know about body bags, NOLA's poor or war protests! "Tell me who Eva's dating"!


Salt Lake City:



Seattle:

www.whatreallyhappened.com...

San Francisco:



Washington DC:



All of these pictures came from links on What Really Happened

If you think you know what's going on in this country by watching TV, think again... :shk:

[edit on 26-9-2005 by Benevolent Heretic]

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
If you think you know what's going on in this country by watching TV, think again... :shk:

Unfortunately, that is so true. And in addition to all the people who ignore the print and web media, there is an equally substantial number of people who fail to even watch what miniscule 'news' there is on television.

In my view, a far greater threat to our nation than terrorism, natural disasters, or disease, is the apathy of its populace. "Ignorance" is a term, I believe, historians will one day use to describe our country, much in the same way they use that term to describe other great civilizations of the past, who failed for the very same reason.

I just found this.

Some 50,000 people rallied and marched in San Francisco. An Anti-Capitalist Convergence gathered at 16th and Mission and then marched along the sidewalks to Dolores Park, where it joined the main march. There was a rally at Dolores Park, which turned into a 12pm march and arrived at Jefferson Square Park for a 2pm rally. At the park, the windows of a corporate media van were smashed, and "F*** the Corporate Media" was written on the van

www.indybay.org...

Maybe the media was too afraid to cover the protests .

Priceless.

[edit on 26/9/2005 by Umbrax]

Some more protest pictures. All from San Francisco.







www.indybay.org...

Originally posted by loam
In my view, a far greater threat to our nation than terrorism, natural disasters, or disease, is the apathy of its populace. "Ignorance" is a term, I believe, historians will one day use to describe our country, much in the same way they use that term to describe other great civilizations of the past, who failed for the very same reason.

Most people just don't care about what is going on...they are only concerned with their own lives, and how to make their own lives better. Nothing more. But hey, I guess that's the modern American way of life, isn't it? It just comes down to greed and ignorance...if we didn't have those two things, I believe the world's problems would disappear.

I don't care if you have a phd from harvard in some field and make a lot of money...if you can't be bothered to take the time and look around, formulate your own opinions on actual important national/international events, and have some intelligent input...then you are ignorant. Maybe ignorance of sociological issues is just a conscious decision made nowadays--not to care. As long as someone has a good life, and they get what they want, they simply can't be bothered to care about anything else. This way of thinking will only take us so far, and we certainly won't be "united" along the way.

We need to make a conscious effort, as individuals, and as a society, to CARE about what goes on in our world and the world of others with whom we live. We need to realize that in a system of DEMOCRACY (hah), the society will only grow because of different ideals and beliefs, and they must be heard and respected as everyone else's...and that it is not a crime to speak out against the government, because all we want is for it to become a better system, thus making our country better. It's not the same as "bashing America", one retort that I love hearing from people who are too ignorant or uncaring to do anything other than follow the norm, or follow the system they were taught never to question. This is wrong, and everything MUST BE questioned.

People need to become active members of society and express their opinions logically. I have no problem arguing about politics with someone who has a legitimate reason for their stance, and has obviously taken the time to think about things, even if I think they are wrong. But the majority of the people I encounter simply have their beliefs because of what they were raised to think in their families, or just because they adopted those beliefs from their social groups, or the kind of lifestyle they have or wish to have...they don't actually take the time to sit down, read about things, and actually question themselves about what they truly believe to be right or wrong. But they're the first people I would go to if I wanted to know what happened on last night's episode of family guy or real world. Hey, wake up, this IS the real world, and it's passing you by.

I have a picture from the protest as my avatar

Benevolent Heretic, you better fix that top image, it's in violation of the site's T&C.

Originally posted by djohnsto77

Benevolent Heretic, you better fix that top image, it's in violation of the site's T&C.

Thanks. That's not what it said when I put it up there! It was a picture of the LA protest.