Dare We Hope?
Reinhard has not published an editorial for an entire week. Could it be? Has he decided to take some time off, and take some Writing 121 classes at PCC?
We can only hope. In the meantime, I decided to parse a bit of the O's larger coverage.
Do you find the anti-anti war protestors more interesting? Because I don't.
In Sunday's paper, buried on page A10, was a short article by Jennifer C. Kerr of the Associated Press. Rather, it was a snippet of an article. It gave a very brief, tantalizing bite of an event that drew 100,000 people to Washington, DC. The article quoted Police Chief Charles Ramsey, and two signs.
Then on page A2 of Monday's paper was a larger article about the anti-anti-war protestors, by Elisabeth Goodridge of the AP. The article quoted 2 signs, and 4 different people, including quotes from speeches given at the rally--which consisted of less than 400 people.
None of the speeches from the first anti-war protest were quoted. None of their reasons for attending the protest (which was 250 times the size of the anti-anti-war protest)were elucidated or quoted.
Was this stunning lack of coverage because the Oregonian assumes that we all know why a hundred thousand people are protesting the war? Did the Oregonian think that we were unaware of the reasons that a few people supported the war?
This skewed coverage of two very different protests shows unbridled bias. The Oregonian could have published Kerr's story in full from the AP wire, giving such a massive turnout the coverage it rightly deserved. But instead, the Oregonian chose to continue upholding the status quo, and to reinforce simple-minded opinions about the war.
Portland is an intellectually vibrant community. Yet our hometown newspaper offers us more coverage of what we already know instead of what we want to know more of. I had to go online to search for more protest coverage, and there was plenty. Why didn't the Oregonian publish a follow-up on Monday that did more than toe the Republican party line?
Because they are biased, plain and simple. I dare them to prove me wrong.
We can only hope. In the meantime, I decided to parse a bit of the O's larger coverage.
Do you find the anti-anti war protestors more interesting? Because I don't.
In Sunday's paper, buried on page A10, was a short article by Jennifer C. Kerr of the Associated Press. Rather, it was a snippet of an article. It gave a very brief, tantalizing bite of an event that drew 100,000 people to Washington, DC. The article quoted Police Chief Charles Ramsey, and two signs.
Then on page A2 of Monday's paper was a larger article about the anti-anti-war protestors, by Elisabeth Goodridge of the AP. The article quoted 2 signs, and 4 different people, including quotes from speeches given at the rally--which consisted of less than 400 people.
None of the speeches from the first anti-war protest were quoted. None of their reasons for attending the protest (which was 250 times the size of the anti-anti-war protest)were elucidated or quoted.
Was this stunning lack of coverage because the Oregonian assumes that we all know why a hundred thousand people are protesting the war? Did the Oregonian think that we were unaware of the reasons that a few people supported the war?
This skewed coverage of two very different protests shows unbridled bias. The Oregonian could have published Kerr's story in full from the AP wire, giving such a massive turnout the coverage it rightly deserved. But instead, the Oregonian chose to continue upholding the status quo, and to reinforce simple-minded opinions about the war.
Portland is an intellectually vibrant community. Yet our hometown newspaper offers us more coverage of what we already know instead of what we want to know more of. I had to go online to search for more protest coverage, and there was plenty. Why didn't the Oregonian publish a follow-up on Monday that did more than toe the Republican party line?
Because they are biased, plain and simple. I dare them to prove me wrong.
posted by platon at 4:12 PM
2 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Post a Comment
<< Home