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PBS' Failed Coverage of Convention Protests

Dismayed by the lack of major media coverage of the protests during the Democratic Convention? Surprised that major news analysts were unable to conclude that the multi-issue coalition did indeed have a message? This was the message that should have gone out:

Thousands are protesting party conventions because they have one thing in common. Corporate domination and economic globalization adversely impact their lives on these issues they care about most: the environment, labor, health care, human rights and long-lasting peace and safety for their children and the next generations to come.

It's why so many peaceful protesters were willing to take to the streets despite the possibility that things could turn ugly -- even if they didn't want it to -- and why a smaller minority were willing to risk police brutality and arrest.

It's your turn to continue to get the message out. Write your own letter to news organizations whom you feel have been grossly inaccurate and/or negligent in their analysis and coverage.

The following is an example of a letter submitted by Scott Harris to PBS' News Hour producers. Their segment Aug. 17, 2000 failed to include any of the protests' organizers in the studio discussion of the Democratic Convention protest.

Dear NewsHour producers,

I tuned into your program this evening and was momentarily excited by the prospect of a feature segment on the protests targeting both the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer.

It was soon clear that the 20 minutes your producers devoted to this topic would do little to inform your viewers of who was in the streets and why they were there.

In the initial moments of the segment your reporter Jeffrey Kaye of KCET, Los Angeles narrated over video images of the protests, discussing a few of the issues and groups participating in demonstrations around the Staples Convention Hall in L.A.. Although he paid plenty of attention to police/activist tension, very little time was given to any of the demonstrators speaking to the more important question: Why were they there? Only 3 demonstrators got their 20 second sound bites: 1) An organizer of the D2K network; 2) an anarchist and 3) a teacher/union member saying he supported the Democrats and Al Gore.

The next 3-4 minutes presented Ray Suarez interviewing Chicago Democrat Rep. Bobby Rush, (a former Black Panther) on the convention floor, who criticized the protesters for not having one easily digestible message "like we did in the 1960's, opposing the Vietnam War and support for Civil Rights." Mr. Rush admitted that he did not know what these activists were protesting about, but he offered advice. He said, make your message simple and don't expect "pop-up" protests to have any resonance with the American people without first organizing in the community, educating people about your issues.

The final 12 - 14 minutes of the segment consisted of a roundtable discussion with the Newshour's regular commentators. Those around the table summarized the important role protests played in social change during the 1960's. Unfortunately these commentators demonstrated not the slightest bit of knowledge about the short history of this current movement for global social justice. Without exception your panelists were dismissive of the future effectiveness of this new movement ‹ not even noting, ironically, that this new burst of political activism was only 8 months old.

Your producer's mystifying decision not to include any representatives of those organizing the protests on the program resulted in a superficial exercise which not only left out critical information about what's going on in the streets but also served to perpetuate a distorted picture of who is on the streets and why.

People watching your program hoping for a more in-depth view on this topic than is usually provided by the corporate media were certainly as disappointed as I.

Corporate power, economic globalization and the concurrent erosion of democracy are among the major set of issues that is driving disparate social movements together into multi-issue coalitions. I can only speculate that this strident anti-corporate message may have been an uncomfortable topic to examine in any depth given that the NewsHour is dependent on some of the world's largest trans-national corporations for their annual funding.

Because of the NewsHour's stark omission from the program of any movement representatives, your viewers are probably unaware of the important new coalitions that have been developing since last winter's major demonstrations in Seattle against the policies of the World Trade Organization. Environmentalists, labor, students against sweat shops, human rights advocates and activists working against police brutality and for abolition of the death penalty have been organizing and planning together to challenge the post-cold war triumphalism of corporate domination, not just here in the U.S.but all around the world.

I hope when the NewsHour decides to again examine this growing social justice movement, your producers will have the common sense to include in the discussion activists within the movement...that is if it's OK with your friends at Archer Daniels Midland, Travelers Insurance and Salomon Smith Barney.

Scott Harris
Public Affairs Director
WPKN Radio 89.5 FM
Bridgeport, CT

email: sharris@snet.net