I took this screenshot of Fox News’s home page at 5 pm on November 17th, the day of action following the NYPD raid on Zuccotti Park. With a rising total of at least 175 people arrested so far today (thank you BBC) and huge masses of people currently marching through the streets of NYC (live streaming video here), we are given Fox News’ lead story that 2 cops have been injured. I don’t mean to trivialize the injuries that those men or women sustained, but that is not the key narrative of what is happening right now. It is a clear effort to vilify a movement that has largely stayed peaceful and represents a the voice of a majority of the people.
Here’s the alternative at CNN website:
It’s pathetic that I was able to see more of the protests happening in Egypt (thanks to Al Jazeera) than I am able to see happening in my own country. I remember seeing reporters on scene and live footage of the key protests. Let’s not forget that a main storyline of every protest in the Arab Spring was of how the state run news agencies were propagating a false narrative in an effort to control the people. How can we really say now that the US stands above the rest in its treatment of democracy when our privately run news agencies are acting in such a similar fashion?
Those Arab protests are a matter of the people versus corrupt regimes. Those state-run news agencies were acting in accordance to the wishes of those regimes that owned them. They narrative they presented was a weapon aimed squarely at the protesters. In America, the Occupy protest isn’t against a regime, it’s against a sect of the economy, but the same elements are present in the media. FOX News is a weapon aimed squarely at Occupy. This is not reporting, this is propaganda that serves neither the people nor the state.
This new push for freedom is too radical for many at the top of the heap in America right now. Watching it unfold, it’s hard not to think our country has either fallen behind or lost track. If you disagree, tell that to Dorli Rainey whose face is likely shown on television screens all around the world…except for maybe America.
