After watching the horrifying video of the arrest of Democracy Now's Amy Goodman in the streets outside the Republican Convention, I could not shake the sense of unreality.
DKos Diary that includes the embedded video.
This morning my family and I listened to Democracy Now. I imagine many others here did the same. I was sure that such a shameful attack on the constitution and the values that are given lip service by politicians constantly would be covered in, say, the New York Times. Oops.
Here is a link to NYT story about the protests in today's online paper.
This prompted me to go to the NYT Caucus Blog and make the following statement...
NYT, your article in today’s paper about the protests at the RNC convention leaves out a lot of important information. The Alternative media covers this story much better.
One example is your focus on the small number of protesters who were unruly (the vast majority were peaceful and well-organized) with no attention to the many incidents where police used illegal procedures and unreasonable force on peaceful demonstrators.
Another example involves your silence about pre-convention raids targeting protest organizers including a video collective that did a great job covering police misconduct during previous conventions (and who were doing nothing illegal).
Journalists have been targeted and arrested, including award-winning journalist Amy Goodman of Democracy Now (see this link to video of her arrest :
http://www.democracynow.org/...
Ms. Goodman was arrested while trying to find out why two of her colleagues were being arrested (they were trying to cover the events unfolding in the street). They were treated with brutality and at least two were injured. Apparently other journalists have also been arrested trying to cover the story, including reporters from the AP and the NY Post.
We will continue to lose our freedoms to police intimidation unless the mainstream press covers what is happening. Please, NYT, do your job. We need you to step up here.
Thank you.
Today I plan to explore the online MSM and provide information about this situation. Many of us have been following the increasing militarization of police tactics in response to peaceful protests. With the harrasment of accredited journalists, these tactics have escalated. Not only do the police use unlawful force, they are attempting to prevent there being any objective witness to these tactics. "Freedom is a constant struggle." Help break the silence by finding a related story on a MSM online outlet and posting a more balanced account of events of yesterday.