The Daily News' Press Crimes Against Humanity

By Don Hazen, AlterNet. Posted August 28, 2004.

Ok, I got your attention, tabloid style. You've just had a small taste of the media manipulation dynamics at play in the Big Apple in the run up to what Time Out: New York has called: "The Barbarian Invasion."

In an editorial decision that boggled the mind of even the most cynical New York media watchers, The Daily News' huge headline on Thursday screamed, "Anarchists Hot for Mayhem: Police on Guard vs. Violent Tactics." That headline was followed by an incredibly thin, "exclusive" story by Patrice O'Shaughnessy, based completely on unnamed sources in the police department.

Question: Is this reporter being used as a tool of the police propaganda machine? The Daily News is a slightly more sane, more Democratic alternative to Rupert Murdoch's right-wing rag, The New York Post, but O'Shaughnessy's article beats the Post for its journalistic irresponsibility. The article began, "Fifty of the Country's leading anarchists are expected to be in the City for the RNC... each of the 50 have at least 50 followers who are willing to [be] arrested."

I wonder how the NYPD picked their top 50 – sounds like an idea they borrowed from the military with their Iraq deck of cards – and the 50 followers. Fifty has a certain symmetry – perhaps a numerologist picked it.

The New York Post must have felt the heat to compete with the Daily News for bad journalism. The Post's Saturday edition led with "Two Nailed in Herald Square Subway Blast Plot," another story skimpy on the details with audacious claims, anonymous police quotes, and a stunning reference to what was likely a confidential memo from the federal government: "The threat was taken so seriously by officials, that it was mentioned this week in a Department of Homeland Security Memo."...Huh, mentioned in a memo?

This is exactly the kind of hysterical hit piece reporting – along with a slew of other media reports that have distorted the aims and intents of protesters – that activist leaders feared would dominate the news in New York City. And these stories and many others like them have been repeated on local news shows as well. In fact, protest leaders became so concerned about the distorted media environment that they took the unprecedented step of trying to engage journalists with a preemptive initiative to open up a dialogue on coverage.

An open letter released on Thursday urges the media to ensure fair, balanced and accurate coverage of the RNC demonstrations. Organizers appealed to members of the news media to cover the upcoming protests with the utmost care and diligence.

The letter begins:

"We write as representatives of peace and justice organizations that will convene in New York City during the Republican National Convention to express our dissent to the current administration's policies and practices, including the occupation of Iraq, attacks on our civil liberties, the impoverishment of our communities and the destruction of our environment. We are concerned by the slant of some of the media coverage that has focused on potential violence or made unsubstantiated and sensationalist claims about the activists who will be demonstrating during the Convention."

The letter is signed by more than 50 prominent individuals representing peace, environmental, religious, immigrant, youth and community organizations ranging from the Sierra Club to the National Organization for Women to Military Families Speak Out. The letter suggests several ways for journalists to ensure the most fair and balanced coverage of the dissent in the streets. It urges reporters to:

Don Hazen is the Executive Editor of AlterNet.

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