Press banned in occypy rallies
November 18, 2011 7:04 AM Subscribe
There are some seriously troubling reports of the press being denied access during the Zuccotti park eviction. Here's a write-up with a live-blog of protests from the DailyKos by 'Olliegarky'. Apparently helicopters were asked to leave the airspace above the park and there were numbers of reporters arrested during the protest. All this is leading to allegations of press blackouts.
If all this doesn't totally creep you out...
If all this doesn't totally creep you out...
This post was deleted for the following reason: I am sorry, I know OWS is a very big deal to the people in it, but posts about it have to not be editorializing and have to meet a decent standard, same as all newsfilter posts. If you'd like please put this into one of the Occupy threads currently in progress. -- jessamyn
Wow, okay: so this TOTALLY explains why we NEVER heard or saw any news or footage about the eviction until just now!
Oh. Wait.
So, the news got out. And photos. And video. So, what -- it was the wrong media who were allowed access? Not enough of one type of reporter? Citizen journalism isn't good enough?
This would be more easy to treat with slightly more concern if it didn't smell of the Left, once again, bending over backward to manufacture 'signs of oppression' in order to fuel the fire.
posted by gsh at 7:12 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh. Wait.
So, the news got out. And photos. And video. So, what -- it was the wrong media who were allowed access? Not enough of one type of reporter? Citizen journalism isn't good enough?
This would be more easy to treat with slightly more concern if it didn't smell of the Left, once again, bending over backward to manufacture 'signs of oppression' in order to fuel the fire.
posted by gsh at 7:12 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think the closed airspace thing turned out to be just a misunderstanding by the cbs copter pilot.
posted by Think_Long at 7:14 AM on November 18, 2011
posted by Think_Long at 7:14 AM on November 18, 2011
So, what -- it was the wrong media who were allowed access? Not enough of one type of reporter? Citizen journalism isn't good enough?
How much State control of media access to public events is "just right" in your opinion?
posted by DU at 7:15 AM on November 18, 2011 [7 favorites]
How much State control of media access to public events is "just right" in your opinion?
posted by DU at 7:15 AM on November 18, 2011 [7 favorites]
Citizen journalism isn't good enough?
What was so wrong with the professional journalists that they shouldn't have been allowed to see what was happening?
posted by lumensimus at 7:16 AM on November 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
What was so wrong with the professional journalists that they shouldn't have been allowed to see what was happening?
posted by lumensimus at 7:16 AM on November 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
This would be more easy to treat with slightly more concern if it didn't smell of the Left, once again, bending over backward to manufacture 'signs of oppression' in order to fuel the fire.
Why should any journalists be refused access? Since you'd like to pin blame on Leftist fearmongering, I'll answer with one of the Right's favorite principles: If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:16 AM on November 18, 2011 [13 favorites]
Why should any journalists be refused access? Since you'd like to pin blame on Leftist fearmongering, I'll answer with one of the Right's favorite principles: If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:16 AM on November 18, 2011 [13 favorites]
One of the most important effects of the Occupy protests have been to make it obvious to people who hadn't really thought about it before that the United States is simply not the free country they thought it was.
posted by Naberius at 7:21 AM on November 18, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by Naberius at 7:21 AM on November 18, 2011 [7 favorites]
One would think both the Left and the Right would have something positive to say about the freedom of the press given its prominence in the first amendment.
I guess only the Left really cares about this. That damn Left supporting the Constitution again!
Apparently some of the non-Left only likes the Constitution as a fetish like the flag and not the rights it supposedly grants.
posted by jclarkin at 7:25 AM on November 18, 2011 [6 favorites]
I guess only the Left really cares about this. That damn Left supporting the Constitution again!
Apparently some of the non-Left only likes the Constitution as a fetish like the flag and not the rights it supposedly grants.
posted by jclarkin at 7:25 AM on November 18, 2011 [6 favorites]
But according to the New York Times, one journalist told a police officer “I’m press!” and the officer just responded “Not tonight.”
Pretty bad.
But the armchair director in me thinks about all the different ways one could voice either or both of those lines. Weary. Aggressive. Puzzled. Sarcastic. Flat.
It flavors the badness in different ways.
posted by IndigoJones at 7:28 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Pretty bad.
But the armchair director in me thinks about all the different ways one could voice either or both of those lines. Weary. Aggressive. Puzzled. Sarcastic. Flat.
It flavors the badness in different ways.
posted by IndigoJones at 7:28 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
I guess only the Left really cares about this.
Only the left cares about this. And only part of the left cares about this. To others, it is just a bunch of jobless Mumia-freeing flag burning dirty lazy hippies crowing about how they should get free money. The only time constitutional rights are favored is when the people one's rooting for are the ones being infringed upon.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:31 AM on November 18, 2011
Only the left cares about this. And only part of the left cares about this. To others, it is just a bunch of jobless Mumia-freeing flag burning dirty lazy hippies crowing about how they should get free money. The only time constitutional rights are favored is when the people one's rooting for are the ones being infringed upon.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:31 AM on November 18, 2011
That bothers me, but not as much as the fact that the NYPD asked me to show them ID to prove that I work on Wall Street, and closed down the exits to the Wall Street stop, making a dangerous and very anxiety ridden situation.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:35 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:35 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
the NYPD asked me to show them ID to prove that I work on Wall Street
Papers, citizen.
posted by DU at 7:37 AM on November 18, 2011
Papers, citizen.
posted by DU at 7:37 AM on November 18, 2011
Since the mainstream press only seems to report the worst, least favorable, most violent aspects of Occupy (and near zero about why on earth all these thousands of people are out on the streets holding signs and shouting out some very specific messages for weeks on ened), I don't particularly care to feel indignant on behalf of "professional journalists". Which is too bad, because usually I would. The people who are doing the vital reporting are already down there behind the lines.
And specifically, screw the helicopters, they nothing be vultures waiting for a riot. They are NOT looking for "news". I am sick of them hovering over my home.
posted by quarterframer at 7:37 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
And specifically, screw the helicopters, they nothing be vultures waiting for a riot. They are NOT looking for "news". I am sick of them hovering over my home.
posted by quarterframer at 7:37 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Perhaps reporters can start embedding themselves in our police units so the country can be sure we're maintaining our high level of informed citizenry
posted by crayz at 7:40 AM on November 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by crayz at 7:40 AM on November 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
One of the most important effects of the Occupy protests have been to make it obvious to people who hadn't really thought about it before that the United States is simply not the free country they thought it was.
Threeway Handshake has it right, above. One of the hardest things for people to grasp is that freedom of speech means freedom of speech for things you disagree with, too. If people whose views differ from your own are being shut down, what do you care? The media has done a lot to paint the Occupy protestors as dilettantes and college kids acting out, and so trivializing the message. If they get sent back to their parents' basements, why worry about it?
More concisely: it still looks like a free country for many people, and they are reassured daily that it is, so there is no convincing them otherwise.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:41 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Threeway Handshake has it right, above. One of the hardest things for people to grasp is that freedom of speech means freedom of speech for things you disagree with, too. If people whose views differ from your own are being shut down, what do you care? The media has done a lot to paint the Occupy protestors as dilettantes and college kids acting out, and so trivializing the message. If they get sent back to their parents' basements, why worry about it?
More concisely: it still looks like a free country for many people, and they are reassured daily that it is, so there is no convincing them otherwise.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:41 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Three words: Citizen reconnaissance drones.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:43 AM on November 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:43 AM on November 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
More concisely: it still looks like a free country for many people
Looking with their eyes closed
posted by crayz at 7:44 AM on November 18, 2011
Looking with their eyes closed
posted by crayz at 7:44 AM on November 18, 2011
Hi. I am a journalist. I read that tweet from AntdeRosa, and called CBS to fact check that tweet. They were asked to move the helicopter by the NYPD and they honored that request, but they were not made to leave by the NYPD. The NYPD has no authority over NY air space, and therefore can not compel anyone to land a helicopter.
A minor, but important quibble.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 7:44 AM on November 18, 2011
A minor, but important quibble.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 7:44 AM on November 18, 2011
Papers, citizen.
Citizen reconnaissance drones.
Looking with their eyes closed
WAKE... UP... SHEEPLE!!!!.........
I think that more serious people would start taking protesters and their supporters more seriously if everybody stopped flailing their arms and pretending that we're truly in Orwell's 1984 every time a single cop acts like an asshole.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:45 AM on November 18, 2011
Citizen reconnaissance drones.
Looking with their eyes closed
WAKE... UP... SHEEPLE!!!!.........
I think that more serious people would start taking protesters and their supporters more seriously if everybody stopped flailing their arms and pretending that we're truly in Orwell's 1984 every time a single cop acts like an asshole.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:45 AM on November 18, 2011
A minor, but important quibble.
No offense, but that's a distinction without a difference. NYPD said move, and they said yessir.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:47 AM on November 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
No offense, but that's a distinction without a difference. NYPD said move, and they said yessir.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:47 AM on November 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
I think it’s time for conservatives to step up and help “Occupy” to survive, because at this rate the OWS is going to be an electoral bonanza for us next year.....
The OWS represents an unpopular radical fringe. You may vehemently disagree, but polls say otherwise. Your message is too diluted through crime, drugs, disease and hangers-on.
posted by lstanley at 7:47 AM on November 18, 2011
The OWS represents an unpopular radical fringe. You may vehemently disagree, but polls say otherwise. Your message is too diluted through crime, drugs, disease and hangers-on.
posted by lstanley at 7:47 AM on November 18, 2011
No offense, but that's a distinction without a difference.
Not from where I sit. Forcing someone to do something and asking them to do it are, in fact, very different.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 7:48 AM on November 18, 2011
Not from where I sit. Forcing someone to do something and asking them to do it are, in fact, very different.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 7:48 AM on November 18, 2011
a single cop acts like an asshole.
That single cop must have been pretty busy on Tuesday.
Oh, and:
That single cop must have been pretty busy on Tuesday.
Oh, and:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a press conference today that the media was not allowed onto the scene in order to "to prevent a situation from getting worse and to protect members of the press."posted by DU at 7:53 AM on November 18, 2011
No offense, but that's a distinction without a difference. NYPD said move, and they said yessir.
See, this is what I'm talking about. All around twitter and everything, it was "reported" that the "NYPD SHUT THE AIRSPACE ABOVE DOWNTOWN DOWN SO THAT WHAT WAS HAPPENING COULDN'T BE SEEN." That is not what happened. The NYPD has helos just like the news and they all can't be hovering over a tiny park at the same time. The news pilot could have told them to fuck off, but they didn't.
Again, if everybody would stop fucking crying wolf every time an individual event happened, you would gain more people on your side. There are plenty of horrible things that "the system" is doing that are actually real that more people should be aware about.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:53 AM on November 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
See, this is what I'm talking about. All around twitter and everything, it was "reported" that the "NYPD SHUT THE AIRSPACE ABOVE DOWNTOWN DOWN SO THAT WHAT WAS HAPPENING COULDN'T BE SEEN." That is not what happened. The NYPD has helos just like the news and they all can't be hovering over a tiny park at the same time. The news pilot could have told them to fuck off, but they didn't.
Again, if everybody would stop fucking crying wolf every time an individual event happened, you would gain more people on your side. There are plenty of horrible things that "the system" is doing that are actually real that more people should be aware about.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:53 AM on November 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
Your message is too diluted through media-generated claims of crime, drugs, disease and hangers-on.
posted by DU at 7:54 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by DU at 7:54 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
The news pilot could have told them to fuck off, but they didn't.
And they should have, because it's their job.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:57 AM on November 18, 2011
And they should have, because it's their job.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:57 AM on November 18, 2011
And "keep your powder dry" cuts zero ice with me anymore.
posted by DU at 7:58 AM on November 18, 2011
posted by DU at 7:58 AM on November 18, 2011
Citizen journalism isn't good enough?
It's a fantastic stop-gap, and it generated some amazing photos and pieces of video in the past few days, but no. It isn't nearly enough, because it has no power behind its distribution platform. As I said in the other thread earlier, I was amazed to discover that several of my coworkers had absolutely no idea that anything was going on in New York. Because this isn't being carried in a big way on any new networks, there are a lot of people out there who are wholly unaware that any of this stuff is happening.
Not even just the OWS protests themselves, but the significant news of the last couple of days with the coordinated police aggression at multiple locations. Not to mention the suppression of the press, and the destruction of property.
posted by quin at 7:58 AM on November 18, 2011
It's a fantastic stop-gap, and it generated some amazing photos and pieces of video in the past few days, but no. It isn't nearly enough, because it has no power behind its distribution platform. As I said in the other thread earlier, I was amazed to discover that several of my coworkers had absolutely no idea that anything was going on in New York. Because this isn't being carried in a big way on any new networks, there are a lot of people out there who are wholly unaware that any of this stuff is happening.
Not even just the OWS protests themselves, but the significant news of the last couple of days with the coordinated police aggression at multiple locations. Not to mention the suppression of the press, and the destruction of property.
posted by quin at 7:58 AM on November 18, 2011
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What? WHAT??? HOLY SHIT THEY CENSORED YOU TOO.
posted by nathancaswell at 7:06 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]