Reporting demos, and all that Jazz.
iPM has talked about Richard_SM before. He wrote suggesting we look at how the media covers demonstrations. "Tens of thousands sacrificed their time" to attend protests about events in Gaza, but the demos were "hardly covered". He contrasts this with the heckling of a military parade in Luton and the Peter Mandelson green goo incident, which were widely reported.
The media, he says, is "simply creating an environment which encourages violent or outrageous protests in the future to draw attention to their cause".
We've already spoken to iPM listener Andy Williamson (pictured above with his sax). He and the Jazz Activists entertain marchers. He provided us with an improv soundtrack for Saturday's show, but we still want to hear from more iPM listeners.
Are you a protester worried that your quiet, peaceful demonstration has been ignored? Do you feel under pressure to come up with provocative stunts to catch media attention. Have you reported on a protest?Email us or leave a comment.
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Very good
"worried that your quiet, peaceful demonstration has been ignored?"
Let's talk to a man in a jazz band!
Better than the shark whale story
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Certainly here in France, only violence get the media in - a number of Universities have been CLOSED for up to 8 weeks - the students and lecturers show endless imagination in manifesting their opposition to the new laws (a big step on the introduction of high fees for the still (almost) non paying universities. Examples of actions - 2 big circles around the Sorbonne (we are protecting our University) Lots of pan banging, noise making in front of the Partheon -"Wake up illustrious men (who are buried there) The government will not listen to us". The Infintite circle of the stubborn (lecturers and students have had a 24/7 circle going round and round in front of the Hôtel de Ville de Paris for 8 or 9 days. Freeze-ins, Lie-ins, and from Nanterre abolutely must be seen http://www.dailymotion.com//video/x8rs3r_nanterre-en-table_webcam
CAN I SAY MORE - mainstream media... nothing
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Its not just peaceful demos that are ignored by the media and little wonder that the BBC is often thought to be a mere mouthpiece of the Government. As a veteren campaigner with Friends of the Earth, i have witnessed a decline in coverage, much of it due to reduction in staff and reporters and the complications of coverage since the Kelly affair.
More alarming still, when the government acts illegally its now apparently taken for granted and duly ignored. For example as a campaigner against the unscientific, medically unproved and dangerous process of compulsoray medication of the public with fluoride via the water supply, the government set up a "consultation"process to gauge public opinion, between 72 and 92% said bugger off we dont want it in Southampton, the NHS simply ignored this and decided to fluoridate the water in that city. Its illegal, unethical and seriously damaging to democracy. How can this happen without a major uproar in the press and media. Apparently it can if the people who control the media are linked with the people who make the toxic waste that fluoride is. Its no use being a nice well brought up and well behaved objector when the poisoners simply dont play by the same rules and can place themselves above the law. Like it or not this is storing up anger and resentment for the future. Little wonder that the authorities take every opportunity to increase CCTV cams and police powers. They are creating the problems which they claim are the work of hooligans.
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All new members are waiting for moderation are they. Funny that, i have been a member for the last six years. How new is new and how stupid do the BBC think we are??
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I was a young PC at a demonstration in central London before Hong Kong was handed back in 1997.I think the demo was about the rights of Hong Kong residents after the handover. One of the friendliest protests I've ever Policed. A collegue and I got chatting to two very charming young ladies from Hong Kong. We were getting on so well that when one of us looked round, we realised that the demo had moved on, and couldn't find it again for some time. Red faces all round.
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With reference to your discussion of protests. I am writing to say that as far as I'm concerned, so long as
protestors don't use violence or intimidation, and they don't damage property or disrupt people from going about
lawful business, then they should be applauded for standing up for what they believe, taking the time to stand up
and be counted.
Personally, I have first hand experience of protesting.
About ten years ago the G8 held their summit of world leaders in Birmingham.
Christian Aid organised a protest calling for the cancellation of the unpayable debts of third world countries.
This demonstration took the form of a human chain around the centre of Birmingham where the conference was taking
place. This was entirely peaceful; whole families went along to be part of it. I remember at one point I was
standing outside Pizza Hut with the others when someone came out of Pizza Hut with ice creams for everyone (which
was most welcome as I remember it was quite a hot day.
Whether the world leaders took any notice of us, I don't know, but the point was, we were there, making our point,
and hopefullly bringing the cause of debt cancellation to media attention.
It was an entirely peaceful day in the sun for all the family, so to sum my point up, don't tar all demonstrators
with the same brush, we are not all violent extremists, just ordinary eople asserting our democratic right to make
our views known to politicians.
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SPOIL PARTY GAMES
In 2005 I stood for Parliament in Newbury. My credo was ‘SPOIL PARTY GAMES’*.
It was an experiment in human consciousness (for the most part – they aren’t). I polled 86.
As an official candidate, I had five weeks of local media interest (partly for balance) and that was it. I was glimpsed on national TV.
No one wanted to understand why an a-political bloke, ex small company MD, would blow £500 to go down the ‘independent’ tubes. I wanted to highlight the 'rosette stand' nature of candidates; pre-chosen by parties to play Westminster games.
* It so happens that I pre-empted Sir Paul Judge (The Jury Team) by several years, in my fundamental tenets. But where we differ is in SELECTION of MPs. He asks for wannabes to come forward; I URGE local people to eschew wannabes, and find worthies who have no ambition, but possess INTEGRITY. People of integrity answer the call when needed – by definition
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The media, he says, is "simply creating an environment which encourages violent or outrageous protests in the future to draw attention to their cause".
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Absolutely true. In the past I've been to several very orderly and well attended (ie. 10k plus) central London demos that obviously represent concerns held by a much larger number of people than there on the day (if thousands have bothered to come to London) only to get home and see zip about them on the media.
Much more importantly than what the attendees deserve for their personal efforts that day, if the media don't mention such events then the politicians think they can get away with quietly continuing to perpetrate whatever injustice it is the demo is designed to highlight.
There's a huge responsibility on the media here towards fostering a healthy democratic balance between people and elite that, worryingly, it really isn't living up to.
I've long since drawn the conclusion that, to get noticed by the media now and expose an injustice, you either have to climb something or smash something.
Perhaps the media should be required to report any demos with more than 10k people in attendance. Even just two sentences about them reporting numbers and theme. If any causes can sustain such events repeatedly, then clearly that cause is strongly supported. Not only would they deserve the repeated mentions, but that regular media presence might prompt the politicians into responding.
So how about it BBC? Time to live up to that democratic responsibility ...
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I'm a journalist/activit who travelled from Cornwall to London for Saturday's demo.
A journalist working for a capitalist-owned organ wouldn't have found much to report on - we didn't wreck the place and numbers were not that great.
We understand the limitations of the capitalist-owned media and have no illusions in them.
There is a need to bring down capitalism in order to save the planet and ensure plenty for everybody and enable a great flowering of humanity.
To do that we have to build our own political party, our own media, our own community organisations.
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Radio 4 comments about playing in the
woods brought back happy memories
of the freedoms I had as a 12yearold in the early 1940's. I would set off from
Wembley and cycle down to Southend
on sea , staying at Youth Hostels
( do they still exist ) I was a little
lazy about cycling back as I would
let down a tyre and and cadge a
lift from a friendly truck driver.
Living with my grandparents there
was no thought of any dangers
as I spent happy days wandering
around the open spaces of
the Bentley Priory , and the adventure
in exploring the war time operational
control centre. Its doubtful if many
parents would give their children the
same freedom today , and blame it
on the media who highlight what might
have been a isolated sex assault of a child in a local paper. To the full glare
of National T V and Radio.Giving the
impression there are now thousands
of paedophiles waiting in the woods ,
and the hysteria that caused a local
Vicar to chop down a Yew Tree on
the grounds a paedophile might be
hiding behind it . Or my youth leader
who was worried about letting a 14 year
old to go up river to collect our Motor
Boat for fear a Paedophile might be
hiding in the engine compartment. So
irrational .I do not think there are any
more attacks then there were in 1940's
but they now receive national publicity
putting the fear of God up in parents
who in their day seem to have forgotten to roam and never came to
any harm. There also the problem
that any adult who befriends a child
or offers assistance is regarded with
instant suspicion .I remember the look
of fear on a young boy who fell off a
wall ,and as First Aider I offered to help
clean his wounds. The same unreasonable concerns stopped bob a
job week. While not win no costs
legislation has curtailed many adult
lead adventure outings by schools and
youth organisations. No wonder young
people have to resort to the make
believe world of computers for the
spirit of adventure.
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There is a long and infamous history of misrepresentation of events when the media cover demonstrations. Very few outlets seem able to paint a balanced picture, though I must say that Channel 4 news last night was pretty good.
In the past we have had the unquestioning coverage of police reports that downplay the number of people concerned enough join a march, the glossing over of illegal acts by the police and the deliberate misreporting of Orgreave in order to demonise miners fighting for their jobs.
I have no faith in the print media to paint a fair picture of events but I would hope that the public service broadcasters would be better. Sadly the BBC has a long way to go to atone for past sins.
Only when I see the illegal acts of the police reported in the same way as those of a few demonstrators will I begin to feel that the truth is being told.
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STRIPPED PENSIONS compared to GOLD-PLATED MPs & Ministers' Pensions
If the BBC really is interested in the politics and efficacy of PROTEST, surely the Stripped Pensions campaign history is a salutary case study worth much more and deeeper coverage, more ideally four or five years ago, as CITIZENS’ and basic CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS for all of us are involved! For the hubris and lack of integrity in the City and the Prime Minister for years to allow these people literally to swing in the breeze, we forecast to him that our country is doomed without true principle, not merely preached about but put into practice.
7 years of protests and as earlier to the BBC Trust …
For far too long over many years. there was far too little BBC coverage of the STRIPPED PENSIONERS’Campaign and these fine people’s peaceful restrained protests, despite High Court victories, the findings of the Ombudsman, Select Committee and the too long delayed but then increasing coverage in all the quality newspapers. 140,000 people and their leaders’ protests were ignored by the national BBC for that coverage in depth this issue deserved YEARS AGO. The elemental British values which our present PM espouses so loudly yet has reneged on for so long with impunity and unchallenged by the BBC for these correct protestors. A Governmental Guarantee on pensions should have been just that when companies failed, not the former Chancellor welshing over 8 years or so on fairness, justice and morality these pensioners deserve. The local BBC coverage was good in Nottingham but NOT at the national level.
Could the BBC and Radio 4’s flagship programmes not speak to PENSIONSTHEFT leaders to cover the present topical Consultation and the reality about the latest 90% unindexed being worth so much less. It’s in the papers so why do the Today and PM programmes not cover and challenge the vast discrepancy between HMG’s treatment of these 140,000 compared with the MPs’ and Ministers’ own pensions being topped up & the other current bail outs and length of these pensioners’ struggle by peaceful protest? Surely the partial coverage in Panorama recently was YEARS too late on such a serious issue.
The 6 years or so delay by our PM when Chancellor, Parliament until last year, with its amazing disregard for our common set of British values of fairness and the high standards of conduct we citizens expect. In UK the PM’s indifference was condoned by the lack of BBC coverage, also in “PM”!. This delay and poor support of the City and trustees led to the tragic DOUBLE SUICIDE of Mr and Mrs Alan Brown in January 2007, so despondent of what HMG’s broken promises had done to their lack of future. What a stain on our national honour, just as the pre-1973 War Widows’ atrocious treatment until 1989.
Serious issues like the whole PENSIONS farrago and collapse, as the fruits of hubris and arrogance in the City which the PENSIONSTHEFT campaign actually forecast, need deep and serious BBC coverage in depth. If Government guarantees on pensions were held so lightly by Gordon Brown and he was NEVER seriously challenged by the BBC, only Jeff Randall when he left the BBC, how can you at the BBC be the standard bearers of the precious elemental INFORMATION and EDUCATION ingredients in the Reithian tripartite responsibility?
Thank you and this written as a completely unaffected pair of pensioners in our mid-70’s, who campaigned for the War Widows in the 1980’s, a similar stain on our national honour as the CITY’s and the PM’s plus the BBC’s gross delinquency over this question of Protests and balanced coverage of Pension PROMISES! Thank you for some so belated recent but such partial coverage on Panorama and Sarah Ferguson’s of some time ago – these pensioners’ PROTEST sustained over 7-8 years needs YOUR belated HELP still!
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To moderators
Take out Mr & Mrs Alan Brown, if you like (although their relatives approved of highlighting this tragic Pensionstheft story}, around your rules but covering up this tragedy just led to further illnesses and earlier deaths of other Pensions Protesters. A nation without principle and conscience is not the Britain our country should truly be, nor should the parliamentary and Ministerial denizens of SW1 deserve their bloated 1/40th pensions constantly topped up at taxpayers' expense, while they denied 100% of others' pensions for almost a decade.
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How do you define "peaceful"? By definition, a protest is a protest and not a gentle chat over differences with a cuppa and a hobnob..
Given the woeful lack of coverage of any protest that is not "newsworthy", then it is not surprising that people are using different tactics. Non-violent direct action is the new "peaceful protest."
A good example of this is Wednesday's Climate Camp in the City, where so many young people camped outside the European Climate Exchange on Bishopsgate, to protest against the G20's plans to use deeply flawed carbon trading mechanisms to tackle climate change.
Riot police waded in once people had settled down for the night to disperse the camp. This violence has not been televised. But 2 dozen idiots in balaclavas breaking a few windows of an RBS building - well, I rest my case.
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I agree that the media have a tendency to focus on violence and ignore peaceful protests but this is not always the case. The march on Saturday the 28th in London was the first item of news on the radio at 5 pm and also on the TV news at 5.40pm with several short interviews with those taking part. maybe it was because so many well known groups were sponsoring the march.
A year ago I took part in a march in India with 25,000 landless dalits (lowest caste people ) demanding their rights to keep their land to grow food and not be pushed off by wealthy landowners or industrial interests. The march lasted for 3 weeks and ended up in Delhi where the government met them and agreed to the key demand to set up a land commission.Towards the second half of the march a lot of media interest was created both in India and internationally, and the issues were very well presented in the media. This added to the pressure on the government to agree to their demands. Why? partly because it was sucha big and long march, partly because marches (padyatras) are well respected in India because of Gandhi. an d partly because the media along with the general population recognised this was an important issue that had been neglected in India for too long.
So it is not all doom and gloom
GeraldC
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Sadly - my experience is that it's a given that 99% of the mainstream media is incredibly lazy, and only cover citizens expressing their views - when it fits a narrow agenda that the media as a pack has defined. And this includes - violence (or seeming violence) by demonstrators who can be presented as "anarchists" = newsworthy. Anything else (unless it involves a celebrity) = non-newsworthy.
The photo on the front page of this thursday's Daily Mail - after the G20 protests says it all.
A man who has just had his head cracked open by police, with blood streaming down it faces a row of policeman - one wielding a stick. The caption is "Snarling and covered in blood, a protester confronts police..."
But sadly it's not just the Daily Mail!!
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Saturday 28th March ~ Hundreds of millions of people across the planet participate in the biggest environmental protest ever. Hailed by UN secretary general as a strong message to governments across the world to act on climate change. Media coverage: sparse, low key and low priority.
Wednesday 1st April ~ A relatively small number of violent demonstrators attack a branch of RBS in the run up to the G20 summit. Media coverage: sustained, high profile, high priority.
Sadly, it seems that to generate press coverage it pays to use sensational and sometimes violent tactics.
No coincidence that most of the real socio-political changes in our history have only taken place after sustained and aggressive protest. Women's right to vote, overthrow of colonialism, civil rights movement, Stonewall, apartheid in SA. It's worth remembering that the press are a part of the hegemony in our society - and maybe the way they report these events is at least part of the reason that aggressive protest seems to be key to achieving any major outcome.
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Norfolk Bernie above is absolutely right in his comments about the climate camp in Bishopsgate on Wednesday.
I organised a group of jazz musicians to play at one of the marches to the Bank of England on Wednesday - and was invited after emailing iPM to respond musically to some of the other emails people sent - look forward to hearing how that turned out! (that's us in the picture above).
After experiencing Wednesday, and seeing how the media covered it,
I'm deeply concerned that he media are increasingly ONLY responding to police involvement in the potests. There are two main issues (as well as the general one that startd all this) that are hugely important:
(a) the energy of people who are working really hard to get government and wider population to think more about how we live now is compromising the quality of life for us in later life and future generations are instead diverted into having to needlessly confront police who are overreacting to a hypothetical and largely unreal threat of 'violence' (the only violence that occured between people on wednesday was between protestors and police - with the police being the only initiators that I saw (I'm not talking about the petty vandalism by a doombrains rising to the bait of the only iunboarded up windows in the square - they deserve to be prosecuted);
and (b) the police - many of whom I know to be decent, caring, intelligent, people - are being used in some way, by someone to further an agenda that is contributing to an increasing loss of liberty and the erosion of basic freedoms fo which this country has always stood.
It's clear that this is also felt within the ranks of the police 'service' (as I belive it's now called) - this blog, apparently written and discussed by police officers has some ineresting things to say about the policing of the climate camp at Kingsnorth in the summer (which I was at):
http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/kingsnorth-police-criticised-over-cost-shock/
in haste...will be listening on the road to Cornwall this afternoon.
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Isn't the media's frenzied coverage of violence and its reflection on the peaceful protesters similar to the way our steriotypical perception here in the States of British tabloids reflects on the sober and responsible image of the BBC?
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I was on the 100% peaceful anti-militarism demo in Trafalgar Square on April 1st. No violence. No media comment at all. None.
Lesson - if you want attention, go to a violent demo.
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So let me get this right. Someone suggest you look at how the media reports demonstrations. Implied concern that you don't and that you don't take them seriously.
iPM answer? A piece about a jazz band that plays at demonstations.
You couldn't make it up.
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I was proceeding to demonstrate against some racists proposing to pose outside a shop, and found my way bard by 2 lines of police 'sanitising' the area around the shop despite the racist not turning up. The police refused to let me (and all the Saturday shoppers out that day) walk on this part of the public highway, they said they had the right to refuse passage, and clearly wondering if they should arrest me, told me I could only demonstrate by joining my fellow demonstrators at the other end of the street, and to walk around several blocks to get there.
But these 'fellow' demonstrators were an active anti racist group, and not part of me, flying red flags and the like. I informed the police that they were not 'my' fellows, that it was incorrect for me to join them, that I came on my own as a personal commitment against the racists, to show them that they are not welcome in my community, and that I had a right to walk to the shop that now had no one near it as the police had secured 50 metres of empty street, that I was clearly not a threat to disorder.
The police ranks closed still closer, and if I had wanted to press my right it was clear that it was likely that I would be spending the rest of the day uncomfortably at the station. Being a weak kneed 'liberal' I walked away. It was clear that any personal right on the street does not now exist, and that local police forces throughout the UK practise their 'sanitisation' techniques with impunity, and that personal rights to demonstrate are eroded systematically by all police forces in the UK. Institutionalised police sanitisation?
There were no reports in the press of the hundreds of anti racist people who turned out from numerous groups, all corralled by the police into the large group at the end of a sanitised street, just a handy bunch for police, anti racists and racists to digitally photo and record.
Clearly, my ‘voice’ is unimportant in itself, as are all of us as individuals, but together our numbers do become of political importance as we take the time and effort to show our physical presence on the street. All this is note worthy, but not of any use to the entertainment news media. Perhaps if the tv media had been there they might have asked me how I felt? QED?
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