Back on March 15, Noel Sheppard noted that the San Francisco Chronicle completely ignored the thousands of average Americans that came together in Cincinnati, Ohio to protest Obama’s unprecedented take over of the US economy. The Cincinnati Tea Party truly was massive but is just one of the many dozens of Tea Party protests that have occurred — and are continuing to occur — all across the country in the last two months. Still, the SF Chronicle didn’t see any reason to cover the rally.
But never fear for the Chronicle does enjoy a good protest, nonetheless. As long as it’s of a leftist, anti-war flavor, of course. Witness the Chron’s coverage of the “Massive anti-war, anti-Wall Street protest in San Francisco” from this weekend, March 21.
This rally was no bigger (and arguably smaller) than the anti-Obama protests in Cincinnati, yet the Chronicle reserves the word “massive” for the anti-war/anti-Wall Street protest while offering no coverage at all for the one in Cincy. If size was the key here, as the Chronicle’s headline seems to note, then why ignore the likely bigger protest in Ohio only a week ago?
I’ll bet you can figure that one out, eh?
It seems that not all protests are created equal in the eyes of the SFChron.
The Chronicle also made another shifty move in its coverage of the Frisco weirdo’s little march. It made the violence that happened there seem to be the fault of supporters of Israel when it clearly was not. In the third paragraph of the SF Chronicle story we are informed about when violence occurred.
The protest remained peaceful until the main group arrived at Civic Center Plaza. There, a couple hundred pro-Israel protesters waving Israeli flags were waiting for the larger contingent, which included many pro-Palestine protesters.
Yes, apparently everything was great until those darned Joooows showed up. The truth is, though, that it was the pro-Muslim protesters from the lefty’s side that accosted the pro-Israel group, not the other way around. The Chronicle would have been more proper to say something like the following: “The protest remained peaceful until pro-Palestinian protesters broke from the group to confront several hundred pro-Israel protesters that had gathered at the Civic Center.”
The Chron did go on to say that the pro-Palestinian protesters broke off “to confront” the pro-Israel group, but that first paragraph does make it seem as if everything was fine until Jewish supporters showed up placing the onus on the Jews and not the Palestinians. Subtle, but just so.
In any case, what we have here is clear. The Chronicle had no desire to cover the massive protest in Cincinnati against Barack Obama’s socialist intervention in the U.S. economy, a protest that is noteworthy for the fact that those thousands all came together for one goal. On the other hand, the protest in San Francisco represented dozens of different causes — from Planned Parenthood and Code Pink feminazi groups to the common anti-war, and anti-Jew folks — and was an effort organized by several of those professional protest organizations so ubiquitous on the American extreme left.
Whereas the Cincinnati protest was organized almost spontaneously and with singular purpose, the Frisco protest was a melange of nutty causes and fringe characters brought together in a kaleidoscope of ideas that did not reveal a united message. In light of this, the Cincinnati protest was far more consequential since everyone was there for that one purpose while the Frisco gathering was a bunch of smaller groups coinciding for all sorts of reasons.
It would seem to any disinterested reporter that the protest in Cincinnati deserved at least as much coverage as the San Francisco anti-whatever protest received. Sadly, the Chronicle doesn’t seem to agree with that more balanced journalistic viewpoint.
On a side note, it was amusing to read an eyewitness account of the lefties trying to organize a protest in front of several AIG executive’s house this weekend. Apparently, there was only two small buses of protesters and about 20 vanloads of media folks to cover it.
For a Business Insider blog, Rhys Southan wrote:
At this point, we’re waiting outside of AIGFP HQ, and still waiting for another bus to arrive. But we’ve heard that that bus is being followed by 20 vans of media. Once again, it seems the media is much more interested than anyone who’s actually protesting.
And then…
One amusing anecdote: The protesters stopped at one point in an organic grocery store and were suprised to learn that many AIG execs were shoppers there, and that according to the store’s proprietor, they were actually very nice people.
The flummoxed protesters spent several minutes outside trying to figure out how such “evil” people could be nice to an organic grocer.
Classic stuff!
But, as with the SF Chronicle covering the “massive” anti-war protest (for a war that is essentially over and won, by the way) the AIG protests got all sorts of Old Media coverage. Meanwhile, Tea Party after Tea Party goes unremarked upon by the Old Media.
Any bias there do ya think?
Steve Maley
Neil Stevens
I don't fault their coverage decision, but you're correct about bias, of course
civil truth (Diary) Tuesday, March 24th at 9:23AM EST (link)This is a San Francisco paper that is on financial life support. Of course they’re going to cover the local event and ignore events in fly-over country, about which their remaining left-wing readers care nothing about (and the coverage of which would be biased AP reports anyway).
Nothing like a bit of masturbation to flog the readership.
The greatest evil…is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the offices of a thoroughly nasty business concern. -C.S. Lewis
http://www.gmsplace.com/
I do fault it
E Pluribus Unum (Diary) Tuesday, March 24th at 9:32AM EST (link)I’m no longer willing to give a single bit of slack to the leftist media, especially a rag like the SFC. I will always assume the worst possible motives – it just saves time that way.
Kill the Terrorists
Protect the Borders
Punch the Hippies h/t IMAO
Sick of hippies
fisk2521 Tuesday, March 24th at 9:56AM EST (link)Don’t these people know the Vietnam War is over? Members of SDS there? All wering Berkinstocks?
God, I’m sick of hippies. They’ve done enough damage to this country.
LDavis
But what about the giant...
larryp Tuesday, March 24th at 10:07AM EST (link)Papier mache puppet_heads? It is not offically goof-ball w/o giant puppets!
Here is an idea...
franklinslocke Tuesday, March 24th at 10:39AM EST (link)This kind of bias is the reason why no one reads this paper and they are going bankrupt. Hey, why not trying to print the truth? Maybe people will read it, instead of having Pelosi coming to save them.
http://franklinslocke.blogspot.com/
Has any Tea Party required riot police?
dwarfmama (Diary) Tuesday, March 24th at 12:06PM EST (link)Maybe it’s not a story unless the authorities have to get involved. Granted, they’d slant the story differently, but maybe they’d actually cover it then.
Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty. (Samuel Adams)
Why should a SF paper cover a Cincinnati event?
ssm Tuesday, March 24th at 12:11PM EST (link)I think this complaint is misguided. SF Chronicle cover a SF anti-war rally because it happened in San Francisco — the main market for the newspaper.
Now the Cincinnati event took place a couple of thousand miles away. Why should a San Francisco newspaper cover an event half a country away. This is a job for a local Cincinnati paper.
I know you want another reason to be angry at SF Chronicle, but this cannot be it. Look elsewhere.
The article is in "Bay Area & State" sections
ssm Tuesday, March 24th at 12:16PM EST (link)I just went to the article via the link in the post, and as I expected, the article is in the ” Bay Area & State” section of the newspaper — exactly where it should be — a place to report on local events.
Note that it is not event in the “Nation” section, which is the next tab over.
No, the defense of a single instance isn't going to work here
The_Gadfly (Diary) Tuesday, March 24th at 1:05PM EST (link)The context is that these are the same jokers who a couple of weeks ago claimed they weren’t covering the Tea Parties because the protests weren’t large enough to warrant that kind of attention from a National Newspaper. Basically, we’re calling “BS!” on that bald-faced lie.
No...
Warner Todd Huston (Diary) Tuesday, March 24th at 7:02PM EST (link)My point was not that the hippies are covered the wrong or right section, it’s that the SFChron didn’t cover the Cincy tea party in ANY section. Nothing.
And, the Chron also made the point of their headline the “massive” size of the rally. If “massive” was so important to them, why didn’t they cover the Cincy rally that was equally as “massive”?
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Be sure and Visit my Home blog Publius’ Forum. It’s what’s happening NOW!
But did the Cincy paper cover the Cincinnati Rally?
sanmateo Tuesday, March 24th at 1:02PM EST (link)Now if the local paper didn’t cover the tea party, then there’s something fishy going. I went to check it out, though — the Cincinnati Enquirer did cover it, in the Local News section. And it looks like Cincy ignored the equally large SF rally.
Is that two wrongs, or two rights?
“Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.”
– Muhammad Ali
That would be two wrongs.
The_Gadfly (Diary) Tuesday, March 24th at 1:11PM EST (link)The tea parties aren’t local events, it’s a national trend, and belongs in the national section. Demeaning their importance because of an unpublicized oath of fealty to the Leige (aka The Big 0) is most unjournalistic. But I know, that’s a realfact you’d rather went down the memory hold in double plus quick time so people would only be thinking double plus goodfacts.
Also, note my reply to SSM. We remember these things around here.
You're right. It is a national trend.
INC (Diary) Tuesday, March 24th at 3:59PM EST (link)We were at the Orlando Tea Party this past weekend and there were over 4000 there according to the Orlando Sentinel. The Tea Party site said 5000 to 6000, I believe.