Complicated Media Priorities at the World Social Forum

By Seeta Pena Gangadharan, AlterNet. Posted February 13, 2001.

Millions of people are still in the dark about the World Social Forum. And why? As many media critics would have you believe, media are part of the problem, complicit with the forces of globalization. Lack of reporting press at the World Social Forum reflects the incestuous relationship between international corporate media, multinationals and global capital flow, and political power.

However, although the massive media entities in the United States regularly filter out stories that challenge status quo sensibilities, in this case it would be extremely unfair to say that US coverage of the World Social Forum was nonexistent. After searching the online versions of major news outlets, I discovered that the event was covered, by the wire services Reuters, Associated Press and Dow Jones, and then later reprinted in the Boston Globe, Business Week, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, and Minneapolis Star Tribune. Original works that discussed or featured the World Social Forum could be found online-in CNN, Forbes, National Public Radio, Newsweek-or rather its daily web magazine "Daily Davos", Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

That's not to say the coverage was impressive or in-depth.

Media's attention to the event was definitely low both in terms of how the issue was reported as well as how many times media outlets picked up or ran a story. By comparison to European media -- especially Swiss and British media, US major media barely scratched the surface. Rather, the Americans half-heartedly took the World Social Forum into account with little credit to the intent, accomplishments or context of the meeting. More often than not, these stories were schizoid or superficial. In some instances, reports of the number of people in attendance in Porto Alegre varied from 4000 to 10000. In others, the organizers credited with conceiving of the idea ranged from Bernard Cassen (Le Monde Diplomatique) and Workers Party (Porto Alegre) to the Public Media Center in Washington DC.

Possible explanations for the poor performance by the American press?

I looked at the larger context in which the World Social Forum had arisen -- a counter-event, against the World Economic Forum, global elitism, and closed-door proceedings on the globalization. What I found was not the usual global media blackout, but a set of factors that revealed both the faults of major media outlets and the fissures the anti-globalization movement itself.

Competition from protesters (or lack thereof) in Davos

Anti-globalization protesters made headlines in Davos, not Porto Alegre, because of the unprecedented security measures taken to preempt "another Seattle". So while democratic, inclusive, and at times chaotic discussions may have been ongoing at the World Social Forum, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, CNN and others were drawn to the potential public relations meltdown at the World Economic Forum. Journalists and their editors -- whether they admit to it or critics lambast them for it -- abide by "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality, and Davos was the perfect setting for a big standoff between the global elite and "neo-anarchists" as Newsweek/DailyDavos.com called the protesters. The more police, barbed wire, fences, shields, water cannons, liquid manure cannons, et cetera, the better.

Given the protest action and subsequent high security operations in the Swiss Alps, US major media treated the World Social Forum as a sideshow, rather than a main event. So, while the American press waited for action in the streets, it also looked to Brazil to flesh out the drama happening in Davos. The World Social Forum was mentioned in the same breathe as the anti-globalization demonstrations and succinctly presented as the "counter" or "alternative Davos" with social aims versus neo-liberalist ones.

More often than not, reporters and editorialists remained loyal to the annual meeting in Davos, where they felt real decision-making take place and solutions to anti-globalization concerns would be met. " ... The protesters have failed to offer practical, pragmatic solutions to the issues they raise. The actual solving will be left to the Soreses and Annans, Foxes and Gateses of the world," wrote the Minneapolis Star Tribune in an editorial piece. A commentary found on the Wall Street Journal site, "The Davos Disorder" -- a piece that originally ran in the European version of the paper -- lashed out against anti-globalization protesters, saying "The antiglobalists clearly don't agree [on a way to alter the path of globalization] and the poverty of their ideas is only matched by the brutishness with which they try to inflict them on others."

Similarly -- although much less opinionated, Newsweek's "Daily Davos" web journal seemed to diminish the significance of the World Social Forum by suggesting that the two Forums were both striving for inclusion and diversity at their conferences (see The Anti-Davos).

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