The Mainstream Media Ignores 100,000+ Progressive Protesters At People’s Climate March

[babylonsister]

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/09/21/mainstream-media-ignores-100000-progressive-protesters-peoples-climate-march.html

The Mainstream Media Ignores 100,000+ Progressive Protesters At People’s Climate March
By: Jason Easley
Sunday, September, 21st, 2014, 1:40 pm


A crowd estimated at between 100,000-200,000 progressive protesters who are are peacefully marching through New York City is being ignored by the mainstream media.

Live video from The People’s Climate March @ link~


Marchers filled up an estimated twenty-five city blocks in what is being described as the largest action against climate change in history, but the mainstream television coverage has been invisible. The march went ignored by the Sunday morning news shows, which instead chose to focus on ISIS and the NFL.

Cable news provided no live coverage of the event despite the fact that it was taking place in the same city where all three networks are either located or have bureaus. Would it really have been difficult for the so called progressive network MSNBC to go down the street and provide live coverage? A live stream of the march would have been much more interesting to viewers than the standard fare of talking heads discussing the midterm elections.

The media always seems to have an excuse for why they ignore progressive marches, but there is no escaping the fact that they ignored the People’s Climate March because it was an event that drew progressive lawmakers and activists from all around the world. The corporate run media doesn’t want to discuss climate issues out of fear that they will alienate that climate change deniers in the Republican Party.

The climate change marches are happening around the globe, NBC News reported, “In London, organizers said 40,000 took part including actress Emma Thompson and musician Peter Gabriel. A march in Melbourne, Australia drew 10,000 people.” American television networks have decided that citizens don’t need to be informed about the biggest march against climate change in history.

It never ceases to amaze that a tea party rally featuring a dozen people can get more mainstream television coverage than a progressive march that features hundreds of thousands in the nation’s biggest city. The UN Climate Change Summit begins on Tuesday, but if our media can ignore 100,000 voices, there is zero chance that they will ever take their responsibility to inform the American people about climate change seriously.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Wouldn't be the first time a huge march or demonstration was ignored.

It's news only when a few dozen teabaggers (with even more porta-potties) hold a rally.

[yeoman6987]

5. You said nobody reporting on climate change march

And then quote NBC? Which is it? Either they are or they aren't.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I didn't quote anybody.

I think you intended to reply to the OP.

[TRoN33]

15. Agreed!!!

[redruddyred]

56. no kidding,

unfortunately, it's like it only happened if it makes it on cnn.
(this is why I get all my news from DU).

[George II]

73. Well, on this issue at least, if you're depending upon DU for "news", you're being mislead.

[LiberalLovinLug]

76. What are you saying?

One is "mislead" by relying on getting factual news stories on DU? Or you may miss an important story?
DU is the first place I come to in the morning to get news THAT MATTERS. (Huffington Post, Democracy Now I also visit among others). If I want to find out what cats are stuck in trees, or what Kim Kardasian is doing today, I would go to the MSM sites.
DU isn't one news source, its a peoples site where many news sources are quoted. If a story is important to Democrats, and other liberals, it will eventually be posted here.

[George II]

78. Well, if you're depending on this thread to get your "news" about there being no coverage...

....on the "MSM" of this demonstration yesterday, you are being misled (I think I should have left the "a" out above)

It's been proven by a number of members here in this discussion that it is false that there was no "MSM" coverage.

[LiberalLovinLug]

80. I think the obvious interpretation is not a literal one

I took the headline as "relatively speaking". I don't think anyone (other than you) assumes from reading the OP headline that it was a claim that no MSM network even took a minute to mention it. So it seems rather inflammatory for you to suggest it.

And it wouldn't have as much bite if it hadn't happened before with peach marches, Occupy and others, hell the largest protest in US history after war was announced with Iraq was LARGELY ignored in relative terms.

[redruddyred]

82. I hope you're right.

because clearly this is news that surprises no one.

[George II]

72. But obviously it hasn't been ignored, in fact it got widespread notice by all forms of media.

[Downwinder]

2. Take it from Ferguson, protests and demonstrations don't get coverage.

Riots get coverage.

[freshwest]

3. I did find some good coverage from abroad:

Climate change summit: Thousands join global protests

...In Manhattan, tens of thousands of people are at a march that is also being attended by UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

"This is the planet where our subsequent generations will live," Mr Ban told reporters. "There is no 'Plan B,' because we do not have 'Planet B.'"

The UN Secretary General was accompanied by primatologist Jane Goodall and the French Ecology Minister, Segolene Royal...

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29301969

Supportive coverage from the BBC with great pics and a video the link, too.

The half dozen or less American media owners will not over this, no more than they will cover the anti-war protests in Bush's day.

I was on youtube a lot then talking with other anti-war people who constantly uploaded videos to see the turnout and hoped for MSM to get involved.

This was before the advent of streaming videos as there are now. We kept up with the comments as we went back and forth from videos being instantly uploaded to cable news and they only gave scant coverage late in the day.

We knew what was happening, that there was a news blackout. Even then, we were shocked at how blatant it was. And it's only gotten worse since then.

All the air time goes to people like McCain and those who promote the agenda of the owners.

[Overseas]

47. There were more than 2,000 marches around the world.

[freshwest]

70. Yes, we knew that. Thanks for reminding us.

[City Lights]

4. And if 14 people show up at a bagger rally, it's covered as big news.

The corporate media sucks.

[AngryDem001]

21. It sucks Koch.

[pleinair]

6. proud of the marchers

I am with them in spirit

[spanone]

8. the media's agenda is obvious.

[Overseas]

48. Especially clear with the 300,000 described as Tens of Thousands

and there's little mention of there being over 2,000 marches all over the world.

CNN calls the NYC march "one of several around the world Sunday"

[BlancheSplanchnik]

50. I knew I wasn't missing anything

By not watching teevee.

[blkmusclmachine]

53. You're missing being lied to. On a daily basis. And pretty much on about everything.

[mahannah]

9. Sunday “news” shows are a waste of electrons.

[Mbrow]

10. Tell me about it

My wife and I marched in Seattle against the WTO, very little coverage there as well.

[valerief]

11. Just like the massive antiwar protests that no one knew happened. nt

[tooeyeten]

12. Closer to 300k

Wait until football is over, like February.

[KurtNYC]

13. NBC, Time, BBC, MSNBC, US Today, NYTimes all covered it

Google results - all of the above:
https://www.google.com/search?q=climate+change+march+news&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US fficial&client=firefox-a&channel=np&source=hp#q=climate+change+march+news&safe=off&rls=org.mozilla:en-US fficial&channel=np&tbm=nws

USA Today - "Largest Ever..."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/21/nyc-climate-change-march/16008009/

Time -- "Could be Largest..."
http://time.com/3414633/peoples-climate-march/

[MADem]

59. Doesn't suit the narrative.

The narrative is that "no one" paid attention, even though they did.

The Sunday talkers don't cover Latest Breaking News--if something is happening live that is emergent, they'd break into those shows. On many occasions, they're pre-recorded. McLaughlin used to record on THURSDAY for a show that aired on Sundays in some markets (PBS often showed it earlier).

I went to fuxsnooze expecting to find absolutely nothing, but to my shock: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/21/new-york-climate-march-attracts-over-310000-people/

Double shock--they even covered the advance prep for the event: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/19/new-york-set-for-massive-climate-march/

[KurtNYC]

67. There often seems to be an idea that the goal of a march or protest is strictly to get on TV.

The target audience for Sunday's march was the UN (for Tuesday) and those who are paying attention. Today's protest on Wall Street is aimed more at socially conscious investors and businesses.

IMHO more people need to embrace viral messaging and online news aggregation, and stop treating the MSM like it is the official and only scoreboard of reality. Twitter, live streaming and online news aggregation won't reach their full potential if we continue to obsess about the MSM (TV).

[MADem]

83. There's also this idea that stuff needs to be shown LIVE or it doesn't count.

The march was pretty much a silent, stark statement. Now that the statement is made, it's time for people to comment, respond, opine, and discuss what it all means. I've been seeing that happen, in print and video, and I'll bet we'll see more of the footage and commentary as the week progresses.

And your last paragraph? Right the Heck ON. We don't rely on them or answer to them--their job is to serve US, and when they don't, we turn them off. They're getting that.

[KurtNYC]

84. The climate change story has three beats this week

the march on Sunday, the Wall Street protest today and then the UN Climate Summit tomorrow. It was a great media strategy to stage events leading into the Summit because it takes a lot to get people's attention on something and the Summit is really what people should be concerned with. Hopefully people are more tuned in to it now.

Online media has a much different advertiser base than MSM TV and a less subservient relationship. We are transitioning from the one-to-many news model of TV to the many-to-many model of online media.

[Enthusiast]

14. Just like the media ignored the anti Iraq War protests.

The media also portrayed Occupy in the worst possible light.

Democracy cannot exist if we continue this unfair media bias.

[blkmusclmachine]

54. Bankers can steal Billions of Dollars, an the media will dutifully skew it for the benefit of the 1%

[kentuck]

61. Bingo!

They report what they want to report.

[Enthusiast]

66. By most measures they have ruined the nation.

Someone should have told them, "Be careful what you wish for."

When they wrested away control of the media it was a near fatal blow to democracy. Even traditionally objective reporting like 60 Minutes and NPR are now compromised and longer worth our time.

[RufusTFirefly]

16. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.

Each time I attended a march that had a huge turnout, I made a point of calling family members and reporting on the size of the crowd, explaining that I was doing so because they were unlikely to hear anything about it in the news.


By the way, if the turnout were one-tenth the size, would it mean that climate change wasn't a problem? I think we run into trouble when we place too much emphasis on the largest demonstration, just as we seem to have established a kind of outrage threshold for how many deaths can occur before some act of violence -- and I'm obviously including war -- is a problem.

[Jack Rabbit]

17. Relax, sister, have a Koch . . .

[babylonsister]

26. Ha! Yep.

[jwirr]

18. I thought that MSNBC was covering it all day?

[ReRe]

19. Won't be the same tomorrow...

... they will be on Wall Street with bells on. Everyone that Amy asked today, to a person, said they were staying over till tomorrow to participate in the Wall Street climate change protest. Someone she spoke to estimated that at least 100 will do non-violent civil disobedience and be arrested. Also, there will no-doubt be riot police out tomorrow. Maybe not, if there are more protesters than there are police.

[FrodosPet]

31. Why is it a big deal?

Nuclear winter is not a big deal. So why is this?

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=900411

Sorry, folks. I don't buy it. And if it happens, it happens. There isn't a damn thing we can do about it.

Live your life in fear if you want. I'm going to live free of fear until I pass,

be it from natural causes or a nuke

[daleanime]

33. ........

[ReRe]

40. Big difference

We CAN do something about environmental degradation, but we don't stand a chance in Hell against the MIC, now do we?

[flamingdem]

20. 2 CNN live reports so far due to celebrities being involved

I imagine. There was an interview with Mark Ruffalo and mention of Decaprio speaking today.

[dhol82]

22. Was at the march

and am just pissed by the news reports that say 'thousands' were there. It makes it sound like it had only modest attendance.
There were 200,00 people! When I was almost at the end of the march there were groups just starting out at 59th street. The original staging went up to and beyond 86th street.
IT WAS HUGE!
Also noticed at the beginning that there was one helicopter overhead. Hell, I live in the village and when there is a problem with subway there are at least 3 helicopters hovering over the area. That sucked.

The moment of silence was really special. It went in a wave as people saw the time and then erupted in a wave of cheering at the end. Really moving.

[ancianita]

24. So glad you were there! I'd like to see Moral Monday turnouts in New York. Then there'd be media.

[babylonsister]

25. Think Progress' estimate was 310,000...

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/21/3570150/peoples-climate-march/

More Than 310,000 People Descend On New York To March For Climate Action

[dhol82]

27. I would believe that number

It went on forever. And it was people from one side of Sixth Avenue to the other. It was a beautiful sea of humanity. When I got near the Javits Center there was a guy taking pix and he asked if we were the end of the march - silly rabbit. Told him it was just the beginning!

It was also an amazingly peaceful march. Bunch of old hippies! Along with a whooooole bunch of young people. It was just a neat place to have been.

[dhol82]

28. Also want to add

that I saw people from all over. Not only up and down the eastern seaboard but South America, Native Americans and I am sure places that I did not notice.

Just a great show of concern by a major bunch of people.

Now, let's see what we can get the governments to do about it. Not expecting anything really constructive. Hope I will be surprised.

[babylonsister]

35. NBC nightly news is covering it copiously now; it's a good thing. nt

[dhol82]

36. amen!

[MADem]

60. Rupert Murdoch's Fox News said the same thing, but their headline said "Nearly 400.000"

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/21/new-york-climate-march-attracts-over-310000-people/

New York climate march attracts nearly 400,000 people

The People’s Climate March in New York has attracted nearly 400,000 people, say organizers, making it the largest climate march in history.

The march aims to shine a spotlight on environmental issues ahead of the U.N. Climate Summit on Sept. 23. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon took part in the two-mile march through the streets of Manhattan, along with musician Sting and actors Leonardo di Caprio and Mark Ruffalo. Former vice president Al Gore and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also were present.

Attendance at the New York march dwarfs the 50,000 people who took part in the Forward on Climate rally in Washington, D.C., last year, and the 80,000 who attended a march at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009. Organizers had predicted that more than 100,000 demonstrators would attend the Manhattan march.

The New York march was the largest of 2,646 events taking place in 156 countries, according to organizers.....

[The Wizard]

23. Attention from the corporate propaganda outlets

requires three cornered hats festooned with teabags and morons carrying high powered weapons

[dhol82]

29. Ain't that the truth!

Remember when there was some sort of demonstration across the Potomac, with about 15 Baggers showing off their guns, there was pictorial coverage all over the media. Pathetic.

[tritsofme]

30. Never been a fan of the yellow journalism employed in these PolitcsUSA articles posted here.

The sensationalism is too much for me.

The title is demonstrably false, numerous people here have posted examples of mainstream media coverage. Not even necessarily specific to this article, I just find this whole yellow style of reporting to be irritating.

[LoisB]

32. I saw it on FSTV.

[still_one]

34. I hope they vote, thereby making the media more irrelevant than it already is

[Cha]

37. That's a great pic, babylonsistah.. here's a couple of more tweet pics.. of course m$m ignored them.

"The UN Climate Change Summit begins on Tuesday, but if our media can ignore 100,000 voices, there is zero chance that they will ever take their responsibility to inform the American people about climate change seriously."

We know how the US corporatemediawhore$ led our country into bombing Iraq right along with the bush cabal.. why would this be any different?

I feel like they ignored almost a million who gathered in NYC to protest bush's misbegotten war.. after we were there I couldn't wait to see the NYT the next day. I remembered being very disappointed at the scarcity of reporting and the under reporting of the number of people who were there.


Tim McDonnell ✔ @timmcdonnell
Follow
Now on 56th street, communities damaged by #sandy call for climate justice #PeoplesClimate
6:21 AM - 21 Sep 2014 21 Retweets 12 favorites


Jonathon Reed @jonathoncomfort
Follow
Canadian bloc at the #peoplesclimate march. "Stop #tarsands at the source." We are the change. #cdnpoli
6:32 AM - 21 Sep 2014 30 Retweets 13 favorites

Thank you Climate Change Protestors!

Well, just reading the thread.. I see it was covered to some extent.. Good!

[PuraVidaDreamin]

38. It was great! I was thrilled with the diversity

And so filled with hope with the large turnout of younger generations. This is the first
Demonstration that I have been, ( and been to many) where younger generations
We're represented in greater numbers than those of us 50 and older.

What really caught my eye was how many of these kids had signs
With the message that capitalism was broken, or had failed, or is the cause
Of climate change. These kids know what is happening, and they are going
To make change.

[Uncle Joe]

39. There is nothing "mainstream" about them, they're just the corporate media.

Thanks for the thread, babylonsister.

[Recursion]

41. Huh? It's top of Google News for me right now, has been for a bit

Sources include Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Breitbart (!), Denver Post, KTLA...

[Ichingcarpenter]

46. 'mainstream television coverage'

is not google news

[MADem]

62. Mainstream TV did cover it, though. The assertions in the OP article aren't accurate.

Even Fauxsnooze covered it, and estimated the crowd at 400K.

[Ichingcarpenter]

65. Other posts on subject prove you wrong

You saw it on Fox News?

Figures.........

[ReRe]

42. K&R

I couldn't believe that AH on this thread that called this article yellow journalism, babylonsister. I was watching the livestream on the internet and youtube, and monitoring TV news, flipping from channel to channel and never ONCE seen neither M$M nor C-Span on the street documenting this huge historical Climate march.

[deutsey]

44. I watched CBS This Morning

and they were having a howling wargasm over ISIS.

During their opening "Your World in 90 Seconds" bit, they showed clips from the march toward the end of the brief segment, then they fixated on ISIS and how Leon Panetta is saying he told Obama to take action in Syria sooner. I changed the channel to the Weather Channel and found them reporting on the march.

Go to Democracynow.org today for more in-depth coverage of yesterday's march and today's Flood Wall Street direct action.

[NewJeffCT]

45. It was on the front page of my local paper

The Hartford Courant here in Connecticut

http://www.courant.com/nation-world/chi-nyc-climate-change-march-20140921-photogallery.html

[Dustlawyer]

49. I am planning a day of protest for the victims of the Gulf oil spill to counter the BS spewed by BP.

All of the law firms representing victims are asking their clients to attend their local protest outside a selected local TV station, all up and down the Gulf coast. They are encouraged to spread the word and get as many as possible to attend. Let's see if they will ignore a protest outside the station, especially when we call the other local stations and let them know. We must not give up!
Oil companies like BP, who spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year advertising for their corporate image are the responsible for the lack of coverage of yesterday's march. On the coast BP is the single largest advertiser since the spill, guaranteeing that the victims message will not get out and only their propaganda is heard.
After we achieve Publicly Funded Elections and outlaw campaign contributions, the media and banking oligopolies need to be busted up and TRUTH be required in news reporting. This is the most important thing we can fight for! To get real action to address climate change we must first get rid of the legalized bribery of our politicians, because in point of fact, they are not OUR politicians currently, the Plutocrats own them!

[raouldukelives]

51. The most coverage they will give it is when they use the photos from this event

and try to pass them off as a tea party rally.

[blkmusclmachine]

52. The media has been captured by the 1%. They will report what they want us to know, the way they want

us to know it, and nothing more.

[Iliyah]

55. I'm disappointed with BBC World news as well

The mentioned came on the flash portion but I personally did not see it on their news segment which is surprising although they mainly focused Kurds, Turkey, Eloba, the 1 year Mall massacre, and Hong Kong.

[MADem]

63. They covered it--with a fairly robust report (see video at link)

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29301969

[George II]

57. I don't know where you were sleeping yesterday, but it was all over the news...

...and in many newspapers, too.

Funny, when the NON-"msm" was reporting it, the crowd was 500,000. Then it was down to 250,000. Now you're saying it was between 100,000 and 200,000.

Where's the credibility?

[George II]

58. I just did a quick check....

Here are the sites that have big stories about the march:

NY Times (WITH video!!)
NY Post
NY Daily News
Newsday
Hartford Courant

Add to that NBC and MSNBC.

That's where I stopped, not a single "MSM" outlet that I checked did NOT have a story about it.

You're not going to win friends by misrepresenting the truth or reality.

Will an apology and retraction now be issued by you? I doubt it.

[MADem]

64. Even Fauxsnooze covered it.

BBC link upthread, too.

CBS video coverage: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-marches-in-nyc-around-globe-draw-thousands/

ABC "biggest in history" coverage: http://abcnews.go.com/US/york-sees-biggest-climate-march-history/story?id=25659229

MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/largest-climate-march-history-kicks-new-york

Crowds gathered with banners, flags and floats around Columbus Circle late Sunday morning as music and chants rang out at the start of the march. At exactly 12:58 p.m., demonstrators held a moment of silence in honor of the victims of climate change, followed by a cacophony of noise with drums, cheers and horns to sound the alarm to the crisis.

The Sunday talkers don't cover this stuff because sometimes those interviews are PRE-RECORDED. They aren't always live. Further, the "crucial point" of the march happened when those shows were LONG over. Finally, when there's "Breaking News" those hosts of MTP or FTN or This Week don't cover the stories--they send it back to the studios.

But every media outlet covered it, and they gave it a chunk of the newscast. Even, as I said, Faux.

[George II]

71. The original claim above is just taking a page out of the rightwing playbook...

....throw stuff out there, no matter how false it is, and expect most of those who read it will believe it.

[MADem]

75. It was a bit of a convolution between the "mainstream media" and the Sunday talk shows.

The Sunday talk shows are not mainstream media. They cover things of interest to their sponsors, which are large corporations who relentlessly lobby Congress. Turn them on, and you don't see ads for Fruit Loops or Purina Dog Chow, you see ads for Archer Daniels Midland, Dow Chemical, Boeing, Pfizer, Merck...you don't buy shit from them off the supermart shelves.

People who think the Sunday talkers are directed at US are misguided. Those things are assurances to the sponsors that this congressman or that senator will vote the way they want, or occasionally sound the alarm about how troublesome that one or this one might be. In any event, those talk shows do NOT cover "LBN." They'll throw to a weekend anchor if the shit hits the fan or something BIG happens.

[George II]

79. Well, the subject line is....

"The Mainstream Media Ignores 100,000+ Progressive Protesters At People’s Climate March", no mention of the Sunday talk shows.

If he/she meant the Sunday talk shows, that should have been said. But, as pointed out elsewhere, for the most part the Sunday shows are recorded days before the shows are aired - as early as Thursday and as late as Saturday, depending upon the availability of the guest. And they're aired on Sunday MORNING. It's difficult to report on something that took place hours AFTER the fact.

[MADem]

81. I concur with those points, but I was focused on this line in the article:

The march went ignored by the Sunday morning news shows, which instead chose to focus on ISIS and the NFL.

In most peoples' parlance, those would be Meet the Press, This Week, and Face the Nation, and, depending on market, McLaughlin to a lesser extent. The cable networks also have their little Sunday shows, but those are unwatched by most people I know.

[Android3.14]

68. Except, of course, that they didn't

I read stories on all the major outlets.

The problem isn't willful ignoring by the media, but leaders willfully ignoring the fact that they must make decisions. The problem is an unwillingness by everyone to do what it takes to force decision makers to redirect resources to cope with climate change.

[glinda]

69. Unless there is "violence" and arrests of

people media doesn't care. Unless they can pin the violence on protestors to downplay causes it seems.

[kpete]

74. Thanks babylonsister

for this and all of you do

peace,
kp

[Spitfire of ATJ]

77. When was the last time the "Librul Media" covered the U.N.?

Oh yeah....



"Slam Dunk".