>From: tech@phillyimc.org
>Subject: NPR news blackout on protest activities
>Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 20:19 +0000
>
>NPR news blackout on protest activities
>
>By Jonathan Lawson
>
>Ongoing protest activities, police response and
>mass arrests in Philadelphia have gone almost
>completely unreported by National Public Radio news
>programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
>
>On today's Morning Edition broadast, reporter Steve
>Inskeep acknowledged that Governor Bush's
>nomination acceptance would likely be the only
>truly newsworthy item to emerge from the RNC all
>week. Nevertheless, both NPR news programs have
>focused on the convention and convention-related
>"human interest" fluff pieces to the exclusion of
>coverage of mass protests and police activities
>elsewere in the city.
>
>Morning Edition's last mention of the protests came
>on Tuesday, Aug. 1, as Eric Westervelt reported
>that "thousands of protesters wound their way along
>city streets... few arrests were made and city
>police say they would accommodate the protesters as
>long as they remained non-violent." As protest
>activities continued through the week, police
>pressure on protest groups and arrests dramatically
>increased. NPR's coverage, however, dropped off
>completely.
>
>Alternative news organizations including the
>Independent Media Center have published and
>broadcast reports of questionable arrests and
>possible rights violations as protesters are held
>in Philadelphia prisons, some evidently being
>denied access to legal counsel, medical attention,
>and food for extended periods.
>
>It remains difficult to determine exactly what is
>going on on the streets of Philadelphia as NPR and
>other major national media continue to ignore the
>protests; indeed, most of the public may be
>completely unaware that protests continue at all.
>
>National Public Radio went on the air in 1972 with
>its flagship program All Things Considered; the
>first broadcast featured on-the-street coverage of
>police violently clashing with anti-war protesters.
>Today, many of NPR's regular listeners still
>consider the network's news coverage to be more
>"liberal" and to have greater depth than that of
>commercial broadcast networks.
>
>Morning Edition: morning@npr.org All Things
>Considered:
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