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On the Media and Protests
Whenever there are protests, media comes. It is an important story to witness and chiefly, to document. The reasons for the protests are multifaceted, yet the media also plays a role in them. Reporters bring to the job their own life experiences and biases. Many reporters are middle-class white, and in many respects do not understand the context of many of these protests. However, the last five years have added a layer of danger to what is already a dangerous job. This is the president calling the press fake news, luggenpresse. The result is that many reporters have been arrested on national tv, or shot at with less than lethal ammunition, The targeting has not been center of mass, but rather what police calls red zones. By this, I mean the face and the head.
At the same time, we see the press still take the word of public information officers and commanders who tell them the protesters started it. There is no questioning of this storyline like almost never. These days we have the ability to see aerial views that show the area where a protest is occurring. We can see what is happening, and talking to demonstrators would give the media the other side of the story. And the other side at times points to police tactics that got things riled up. There is the default position, where officers are always believed, or at least have more credibility than the protesters.