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Marching to a different drummer

The mass media is going to have to pay attention when you’ve got a million people, or whatever it turns out to be, marching. You can’t say that didn’t happen.

That's Guilford County's Marcus Kindley talking about this weekend's march on Washington to protest too much government.

Does any conscious person not know that there are some people out there angry with the way things are going?

Does the fact that we interviewed Kindley and published a story about the march before it even happened make his point moot?

Could the organizers spend their energy more efficiently than creating strawmen to knock over?

10:45 a.m. update: Guess it worked. The march is the lead story here.

6:10 p.m. update: Tens of thousands of people protested, not millions. That's according to Foxnews.com. Just in case someone says we're underreporting the millions of people there. I wonder if, even though there were many less than a million, anyone will say "that didn't happen."

Sunday update: I got this e-mail this morning.

I am writing to thank the News-Record for reporting on the Tea Party's march to the U.S. Capitol. I had decided to discontinue getting the News-Record because it was so one sided. Instead of reporting the news equally and letting the public decided (novel idea) what it believes in, the News-Record decides to express only their views/opinions.

The News-Record did a nice job reporting on A-2 (wow) about Thousands Speak out against Obama's Plan. And it was given most of the second page, not just a small paragraph, good work. This is encouraging. Hopefully, the paper will continue to report the news and not just one side but both sides and OBJECTIVELY. I really don't want to know what you think or your opinions, just want the facts and let me decide for myself what is right.

Monday update: First call today from a man who the story on A2 Sunday should have been on the front page, "out of fairness."

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Tags: politics, News judgment

Posted by John Robinson on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 8:09 am

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scharrison

September 12, 2009 - 10:31 am EDT

From Mark's piece:

"The march itself is being coordinated by a coalition of groups that promote conservative-to-libertarian causes. They include FreedomWorks, National Taxpayers Union and Grassfire.org."

Here's a little background readers might find interesting:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/22/AR200607...

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Taxpayers_Union_Foun...

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Grassfire.org_Alliance

The wheels on the astroturf bus go round and round...

Mark Binker

September 12, 2009 - 2:42 pm EDT

Granted these groups all have corporate sponsors their own agenda.

Does that mean we should ignore them? If people are responding to their message, and there obviously people who do, does that mean we ignore all those people as well?

It's a show, it's a media event and it's a ploy. But it appears to be one that's tapping into something that's actually out there. (Or, put another way, you can argue about who pushed it and why, but that doesn't change the fact the rock is rolling down hill.)

scharrison

September 12, 2009 - 6:32 pm EDT

I agree that these groups are tapping into something, Mark. But they're doing more than that. They're taking abstract frustration and directing it towards specific goals, and most of them are corporation-friendly goals. To be blunt, the rank and file of these folks are being used, and they either don't know it or don't care. And I honestly believe they're not only being used, they're being manipulated into hurting themselves in the process.

Just a local example: The guy that set up and manages the NC Tea Party website is also a health insurance underwriter, and is a rep for the state and national underwriter's association. When I posted that info over at Ed's, nobody batted an eye. As if someone could be the voice of both Joe Public and the industry that profits from Joe Public, without any sort of conflict of interest.

Those industry connections are important, and should be mentioned by mainstream media outlets like the N&R. Every single Conservative who made the trip to DC for this event, and every one of them that hops on a bus for a townhall protest, needs to be aware of who their silent partners are. If they still want to hop on the bus, fine. But they need to know.

Mark Binker

September 12, 2009 - 10:18 pm EDT

I agree with you in general that it's good for folks to know who is funding those groups. I don't know if a thorough vetting belongs in every story we write about them, but your point is well taken.

Mark Binker

September 12, 2009 - 10:21 pm EDT

It would be akin to deconstructing MoveOn's funding sources every time they organize a petition drop-off or something similar. And yes, there are folks who consider MoveOn's funding sources just as noxious as you find AFP's or NTU's. Not saying either side is right, just saying the same argument can be made.

scharrison

September 13, 2009 - 12:29 am EDT

I know this is hard to quantify, but how many articles have you read about Moveon.org that don't mention George Soros? But I'm definitely cool with shining a light on him or any other large donors for that group or other Democrat-oriented ones. I don''t know how much of my stuff you've read, but I've been known to take a poke at my fellow Democrats in the General Assembly from time to time, especially if I think money is clouding their judgment.

I understand you can't deconstruct these groups in every story, Mark. Actually, the fact that you listed them in the story like that in the first place shows a "desire to inform" that many reporters lack, so I guess I owe you a semi-quasi apology for implying that you were not informing your readers. Sorry. ;)

rmc913

September 12, 2009 - 10:57 am EDT

It is a strange group of people who can hijack the national debate over a supremely important issue, to the point that the President has to say, in the halls of Congress, that there is no such thing as a death panel, and yet still feel that they are being ignored.

Get A Clue

September 12, 2009 - 12:24 pm EDT

I find it funny that the same people who mocked those from "the sixties" for their marches choose the very same style of protest to make their points.
Personally, I never thought any kind of a march was all that effective, no matter who's doing the marching.

brian444

September 13, 2009 - 1:10 am EDT

Well, MLK seemed to do pretty well, as did the Vietnam protesters. I agree that most of these demonstrations look juvenile and moronic (and I should explicitly exempt the March on Washington here), but it's hard to say they're ineffective.

brian444

September 13, 2009 - 1:06 am EDT

What are you gaining with this mocking, gibing tone? "Oh, LOOK, it's the lead story at Fox News [Also, incidentally at the WaPost and on the front page of the NYT.] How surprising. And even they say it's only tens of thousands. Could these folks be any more transparent in their attempts to manipulate the media?"

As Mark says, of course they're trying to manipulate the media. And of course there are organizations (even those with AGENDAS) organizing them.

But I don't recall the verbal eye-rolling for similar marches from the left. Were you similarly exasperated when they tried to garner press coverage and inflate their numbers? Or is your frustration ideologically selective?

overtaxed

September 13, 2009 - 2:29 am EDT

"6:10 p.m. update: Tens of thousands of people protested, not millions. That's according to Foxnews.com. Just in case someone says we're underreporting the millions of people there. I wonder if, even though there were many less than a million, anyone will say "that didn't happen." "
Wouldn't that be the same way you and other media "overreported " the participants at the "Million Man March". How about the inflated numbers of gay and pro-abortion protesters that also march on DC?

John Robinson

September 13, 2009 - 9:27 am EDT

My snark is not intended to be against conservatives. It is directed at those who accuse the media of ignoring their "millions" of followers when:
a) we don't ignore them and,
b) they aren't millions.

Tony Wilkins

September 13, 2009 - 3:27 pm EDT

You don't ignore them John, you just make sure they know putting a plastic bottle in the landfill is more important than their little bitty march.
...similar to not having any GOP's on your editorial board pushing political endorsements.
...sorta like publishing fairy tale people counts when Sarah Palin comes to town.
Etc., etc., etc. The etc.'s just bore you John and make you laugh.
But unlike the writer above, I'm keeping my subscription. As a financial investment, for the coupons.

John Robinson

September 13, 2009 - 9:21 pm EDT

Thanks for keeping the faith, Tony. The coupons are easily worth the cost of the paper several times. It surprises me that many people aren't as wise as you when it comes to money.

On the other hand, it has always seemed odd to me that people think a newspaper's opinion-making body should have a mix of political philosophies, as if a person like, say, you have a diversity of political opinions. But that's just me.

In fact, the editorial board does have a Republican member.

And while we're at it, we had a story Saturday and Sunday on the protest. Hardly ignoring it. And, yes, to most of our readers a law banning plastic bottles from the trash is more relevant.

Doug Johnson

September 13, 2009 - 3:23 pm EDT

Mark Binker, You are full of it.
We paid our own way. With money we earned.
Got my credit card to prove it.
My wife and I but in a 22 hour day yesterday.
If you see any pictures of people dressed in ugly lime green shirts and hats, we were volunteers to help with crowd control.
NO PAY! NO NOTHING.
We were not needed, the folks that were not there, were orderly will manner group.
The Washington Police were great.
One bus loaded passed the hat in their community.
I know many folks that paid their own way. Most did!!!!!!
If someone had corporation help good for them, its better than the taxpayers paying the way.
Its amazing these folks go to say their thought on many issues and we are terrorist.
Liberal groups go and they are heroes.
This paper kissed Cindy Sheehan butt when she protest the war.
She is still protesting and you can find nothing on her.
All depends on who is in power.
I was there and trust me it was a mirage.
There was no one there.
The hundreds of pictures I have, were all staged.
Brian 444 you are right, far left extremist like Miller and Hagan could careless what we say are do.
In fact they got out of town to avoid meeting us.

They know they enjoy freedom from the liberal media.
The republicans told us Burr did the same thing.
He does not enjoy freedom from the press however.

John Robinson

September 13, 2009 - 9:23 pm EDT

How was the news coverage up there, Doug?

Mark Binker

September 14, 2009 - 1:28 pm EDT

Since you called me out specifically, please cite where you think I'm full of it.

If you are taking umbrage at the line in the story that said there were organizers/sponsors of the event, please refer to the events own web site which lists sponsors and organizers: http://912dc.org/ There are conferences/events/etc... everyday that people pay their own way too that still have organizers and sponsors. And really, where did all those speakers come from, anyway? They didn't just feel the spirit move and show up - someone invited them.

As for the crowd estimate end of things, this report from Politifact may inform the discussion here:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/14/blog-post...

Get A Clue

September 14, 2009 - 2:31 pm EDT

I am waiting for the moment when a right-winger's head explodes from the cognitive dissonance.
(Actually, that explains why folks such as Joe Wilson appear to yell out for no reason.)
You can't claim FOX News garnering 'more viewers than all other cable news organizations added together' and also keep claiming the MSM is controlled by liberals.
You can't mock the left's love affair with marches and rallies and then fall back on bogus crowd estimates when you hold a march and outright lie about the fact that attendance was statistically insignificant or embarrassingly light.
You can't keep saying it's about hard work and education (while mocking the President for doing the same); that it's about family values and the sanctity of marriage (while offering up a different Republican philanderer each week to prove otherwise); that it's time to stop wasting lives and money in Iraq and Afghanistan (when President Bush put us in both quagmires 8 long years ago); or that you're "The Party of Lincoln" when your side of the House and Senate is just another meeting of the NAAWP.
You lost. This is what it feels like to be the minority. (Pardon the obvious pun.) You lost the Presidency. You lost the majority in the House and Senate. You lost the Civil War. (You can stop holding battle re-enactments; it's officially over.) Now help us or GTFO, because we have a country to fix. And we will do it with or without your help.

Get A Clue

September 14, 2009 - 2:38 pm EDT

Doug Johnson,
Might I humbly suggest you take some of that hard-earned money of yours (on your credit card...thanks for that unintentional belly laugh) and either go back to school or at least hire a proofreader. Even a right-winger would have trouble believing that a simple paragraph free of spelling and grammatical errors is not too much to ask of an adult.
Or is it? You folks did take issue with President Obama's recent suggestions regarding the benefits of a good education.
Never mind.