Forum Post: Will Current TV still be best TV channel for OWS news?
Posted 12 years ago on April 2, 2012, 2:39 p.m. EST by krmlei
(103)
from New York, NY
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I just don't have faith that Current's roster of reporters can do OWS justice the way Keith Olbermann did...
ARTICLE EXERPT: It was in large part to Keith Olbermann that the American public was made aware that the Occupy movement was more serious than what the other news media were presenting. Eventually other news programs followed Olbermann's lead but never was the case presented as well or in such detail as it was in Olbermann's program. Keith Olbermann had become the mainstream voice of the Occupy Wall street movement. And for the short period that Occupy Wall Street became a mainstream movement, it was dangerous - dangerous to the bankers and the lobbyists who have been holding the reigns to our political system that have been passing laws leading to deregulation, an unrestrained derivitives market, and financial bankruptcy for the middle class .
Today, due to a period of dormancy, Occupy has once again been sidelined by the media as a fringe movement of troublemakers and rabble rousers who don't understand the real needs of the 99% that make up mainstream America. This is a grave misperception. As OWS 2.0 gets ready to launch into it's May Day reawakening, there will be a public need for a credible and trustworthy voice in mainstream media. The public will demand it. Few popular media people are trusted by the OWS movement the way Keith Olbermann is. It may be that the decision by Current TV to sack Olbermann will cause the station to miss the boat right at this most opportune moment.
Continue reading on Examiner.com Keith Olbermann: Mainstream voice of Occupy Wall Street sacked by Current TV - New York Occupy Wall Street | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/occupy-wall-street-in-new-york/keith-olbermann-mainstream-voice-of-occupy-wall-street-sacked-by-current-tv?cid=db_articles#ixzz1quTSGDEk
Ummm, I'm sure May Day will be a success, 99% Spring is also planning events (for this month). Hopefully the combined effect (and cool ideas like "dressing to blend") will begin to create more positive awareness. I mean, OWS has really changed the conversation, but people are apprehensive at the idea of anarchism (mostly because they're unfamiliar with its intellectual tradition, and they don't realize how much it has in common with the major currents of American tradition).
Nevertheless, tactics like occupying abandoned buildings, while it's something I personally see no problem with (at least under the right circumstances), tends to be somewhat offensive to the general public. When we cite someone like Proudhin, with a quote like "Property is Theft" .... I think people get the idea that we want to occupy their homes (and they sort of freak out), even though (in reality) OWS is fighting for homeowners. Obviously those who oppose these ideas take every opportunity to besmirch OWS, and associate it with ideas, presented in a way calculated to offend the general public.
This is just something OWS needs to learn how to deal with. I wish I had some advice on how to deal with this, but I'm not a PR expert (although I'm sure there's many supporters of OWS who are).
Yes, May Day will be a success, agreed. I'm just worried about how the media would spin it. OWS doesn't have too many friends in the mainstream media right now. And when you think about it, most Americans believe whatever they are told by the media.
There is an aspect of OWS that does touch a chord in the majority 99% of Americans. That is the aspect we need to get out there flowing into the news outlets.
I think we'd be well advised to operate under the presumption that the media, in most cases, will not be friendly to OWS. However, there's plenty of other ways to get the message out.
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