No Longer Laughing, but Still Clueless -- In These Times: The mainstream media’s narrow and formulaic approach damages its Occupy coverage.

A protester from Upstate New York holds a sign on September 30 in New York's Liberty Park. "I came down because of the state of the economy, society and the system," he said. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Features » November 16, 2011

BY Allison Kilkenny

If the media doesn't understand by now what OWS wants, it simply hasn't been paying attention.

The Occupy protesters have quickly altered the political landscape of the United States. They are standing up for all those who find themselves in thrall to a grasping and ever-more powerful oligarchy, aka "the 1%." In its December 2011 issue, In These Times explores the terrain of this all-American revolt—an uprising that may be the most formidable challenge to neoliberalism yet. —The editors

Occupy Wall Street stumped the media from the beginning. Here was a movement that didn’t support either political party. Unlike the Tea Party, it was not backed by a giant corporate overlord. It did not have traditional leadership.
From its inception, OWS has existed outside traditional beltway games, and so the establishment media, which is generally only comfortable covering a story in “horse-race” terms, didn’t understand it. Are the protesters supporting Obama? No. Who is the leader? We have no leader.
The New York Times has rightfully become the archetype for how not to cover a social upheaval of this magnitude. From Ginia Bellafante’s opening salvo when she called the craziest woman she could find at OWS a “default ambassador” of the movement to Andrew Ross Sorkin’s confession that he only visited the protest at the behest of a “major bank” CEO, the Times repeatedly revealed itself to be irrelevant, out-of-touch and all-too-cozy in its role as sycophant to the rich and powerful.
In an October 14 article, “In Private, Wall St. Bankers Dismiss Protesters as Unsophisticated,” written by Nelson Schwartz and Eric Dash, the Times permits Wall Street to disseminate propaganda and smears against the protesters–anonymously, of course. One “top hedge fund manager” scoffs that “most people view [OWS] as a ragtag group looking for sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.”
I’m still waiting for the protesters to be afforded the same luxury to tee off on bankers without having to publicly state their names or be held accountable in any kind of way.
One could practically see the vein on CNN anchor Erin Burnett’s head pulsate as she fought to understand why normal citizens would gather to protest against her beloved Wall Street. She crafted a segment called “Seriously?!” in which she made the absurd claim that because protesters purchase products, they can’t possibly simultaneously protest the unethical behavior of Wall Street.
In short, unless protesters live in caves and craft tools out of rocks and mud, they’re not permitted to protest the gross wealth divide in the United States.
Burnett commented that she “saw dancing, bongo drums, even a clown” at the protest, but its participants “did not know what they want,” except that “it seems like people want a messiah leader, just like they did when they anointed Barack Obama,” which is such an abysmal misreading of OWS that it’s difficult to know where to begin.
OWS is a leaderless movement precisely because it does not want a “messiah leader.” The group is a pure democratic force that literally votes on every decision–and I do need to emphasize every decision. The General Assemblies are a remarkable thing to behold–a time when every single future action of OWS is voted on democratically by the assembled body.
Second, “they” did not “anoint” President Obama. While OWS leans to the liberal end of the spectrum, it is also comprised of a large number of independents and even some Ron Paul supporters. Furthermore, many activists who did vote for Obama in the past told me they did not plan to do so in the future, and even the ones who did say they would support the president come election time added they felt profoundly disappointed in both Obama and the Democrats in Congress. That’s hardly stirring praise for a messiah.
Finally, if the media doesn’t understand by now what OWS wants, it simply hasn’t been paying attention. Quite simply, OWS wants accountability and a one-tier justice system that holds corrupt bankers, Wall Street speculators and hedge fund managers responsible when they wreck the world’s economies. OWS wants to live in a society that properly funds schools, and doesn’t offer tax breaks to massive corporations and pump endless money into two failed wars. OWS wants every person, regardless of income, to have a chance to live a dignified life, complete with a home, healthcare and steady employment. OWS believes in the right to unionize in order to fight for this dignity, and also that those Americans who earn more than $1 million a year should, yes, probably pay a larger percentage of their earnings in taxes than their maids.
The motives are hard to miss, but of course, documenting them entails showing up to the Occupy movements and talking to more than one person.
Here, the failure is not the Times’ and CNN’s alone. In numerous outlets and publications, I see the accusation of “scattered ideologies” as if a movement that claims to represent 99% of the population can come up with a fixed, 10-point agenda overnight. Of course the complaints are numerous. There’s a lot wrong with the country right now, and the fact that OWS hasn’t come up with a solution for all the country’s woes in, oh, a little less than two months, isn’t a poor reflection on the movement, but rather a reflection on the media demanding the impossible.
What the media can’t seem to grasp is that any specific OWS policy demand would die instantly in the Congress we currently have, and so OWS chooses to fight back the only way it can–by living outside of the system and physically resisting.
Yet, to the media, the movement remains a mystery–shapeless, leaderless, existing everywhere and yet refusing to adhere to a traditional hierarchy. This is new, scary and therefore must be comprised of a tribe of dirty, bongo-playing hippies.
There. I understand “hippies.” Everything will be okay now.
Editor’s note: This story was filed prior to the police raid and eviction of the Occupy Wall Street camp in Zuccotti Park that took place in the early hours of November 15.

ABOUT THIS AUTHOR

Allison Kilkenny is an In These Times Staff Writer and the co-host of the critically acclaimed radio show Citizen Radio. Her blog for In These Times, Uprising, focuses on efforts of youth around the world to address the global economic crisis.
More information about Allison Kilkenny
url: No Longer Laughing, but Still Clueless -- In These Times

Marine Vet at #OccupyWallStreet Tells Sean Hannity to "F**k Off"

 

Uploaded by TheOther99Percent on Oct 10, 2011

Recently, Sean Hannity called the #OccupyWallStreet protesters un-American by saying they "hated liberty."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQNtaJmiJ3k
(As seen in this video)

In response, WeAreTheOther99.com interviewed a few Marine vets at Zuccotti Park.

The Marines stated why they had come to protest and in direct response to Hannity's statement: One said "F**k Off" and the other replied: "That's the biggest load of shit I've ever heard"

Please continue to support "We Are The Other 99". Consider a donation of $9.17 [Sept. 17] to keep our coverage on the air. We are funded 100% by small donors like you. Thanks for the generosity you've already shown us, whatever the amount..

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Rep. Joe Walsh: Media protecting ‘Occupy Wall Street’

These guys are about as phony as it gets, they sound like they're reading from a script. There's nothing of substance in the conversation, it's all a string of negative talking points aimed at inflaming peoples emotions, vilifying OWS and shifting blame on the left. Typical Fox News lies and the reason why so many people have no idea what's going on.

By Eric W. Dolan
Tuesday, November 22, 2011

 

Topics: joe walsh ♦ Occupy Wall Street

 

Republican Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois said Tuesday that the mainstream media was shielding the ongoing “Occupy Wall Street” protests from criticism and accused President Obama of encouraging the demonstrators.
“Your profession, not you, but the media, has been protecting and boosting this Occupy Wall Street stuff ever since it began,” he told Fox Business host Eric Bolling. “And I’m tired of it.”
“It’s at the point now where it is trying to, attempting to disrupt the American way of life,” the tea party congressman continued. “That’s anti-American. Everything this little — and I’m not even going to call it a movement — as far as I’m concerned, it’s a well organized, well funded effort by far left anti-American folks who want to bring down what this country is all about.”

“And I’ll tell you what Eric, I think the Obama administration, I think a lot of Democrats had there hands on this and put their arms around it when it first started, they encouraged it . And this president, Eric, he’s encouraged class warfare. He’s encouraged Americans to go at it with other Americans.”

Walsh claimed the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters had a 14-point manifesto of demands. He appeared to be making reference to a proposed list of demands posted on the forum of the “Occupy Wall Street” website.
Some people have reported that the demands represented the protesters views, but the only document to have been officially endorsed by the group is the “Declaration of the Occupation.”
On Sunday, he said the protesters were “spoiled, pampered, unfocused, clueless young people” and that even veterans participating in the demonstrations were anti-American.
Watch video, uploaded to YouTube, below:

The bizarre history of the OWS counter-protesters A Fox contributor and failed talk radio host with a penchant for publicity-seeking takes to the streets against OWS

Friday, Nov 18, 2011

 (Credit: Justin Elliott/Salon)

Topics:Occupy Wall Street

When brothers John and Derek Tabacco showed up at the big Occupy Wall Street protest Thursday holding “Occupy a Desk” and “Get a Job” signs, they claimed they were engaging in an organic counter-protest against dirty hippies who were preventing them from getting to work.  The local, national, and even international media promptly picked up their story.
But it turns out the Tabacco brothers have a long and sometimes checkered history of publicity-seeking and relentless self-promotion — and their claim that 50 local businessmen are supporting the anti-Occupy protest is entirely unsubstantiated.
Besides owning a finance company called LocateStock in lower Manhattan, John Tabacco is a Fox News contributor, a failed talk radio host, an unsuccessful city council candidate from Staten Island, and a onetime participant in the VH1 show “My Coolest Years.” An endorsement John Tabacco received in his city council campaign was later alleged to have been part of a pay-to-play deal. Derek Tabacco, for his part, is the CEO of what appears to be a defunct social network company for sports fans.
The Tabaccos showed up Thursday morning at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway, the spot where news cameras had gathered to film protesters and the throng of NYPD officers who had barricaded the street and were demanding “work IDs” for entry.
TV camera crews were assembled in a packed media area pointed down Wall Street toward the New York Stock Exchange, which protesters had planned to try to disrupt, but which they ultimately got nowhere near because of multiple NYPD barricades. So bored cameramen, who had been waiting around all morning for action (much of which ended up happening a few blocks away), turned to the Tabacco brothers.
That’s when I snapped the above photo. Each Tabacco brother was dressed more like a “Wall Street businessman” from central casting than an actual Wall Street businessman. They repeatedly said that occupiers were preventing them from getting to work; this seemed unlikely, as the police barricades were efficiently sorting protesters from actual office workers.
I asked them the name of the company they worked for a few times. They refused to say.
It all seemed like a pre-planned stunt designed exclusively for the benefit of the media, rather than any kind of organic counter-protest. And, as a media stunt, it worked remarkably well.
The story was picked up by multiple regional and national media outlets, as well as the Daily Mail. In one interview, Derek Tabacco referred to the occupiers as “these animals.” In another, John Tabacco referred to himself as “a member of the 53 percent,” a reference to the right-wing campaign around those Americans who “pay more in federal income taxes than they receive back in deductions or credits.”
John Tabacco was promptly brought in to Fox News for a sit-down interview with Neil Cavuto:



Note that in the Fox interview Tabacco said he and his brother had “about 50 small business owners” who were there — or there in spirit — standing against the Occupy protesters.
In my interview with Tabacco, he said he had “about 25 business owners” backing the effort. “It started very organically between small business organizers,” he told me.
Who are they? I asked.
“A lot of them are reluctant to stand in the street with a homemade sign. But we had their support,” Tabacco said. He later identified just two supporters in an email: John Bostany of the Bostany Law Firm and Robert Steffanelli of Legend Securities.
Here is what I have been able to piece together about John and Derek Tabacco’s history:
* In April, John Tabacco’s local talk radio show, “Family Business,” was cancelled just two weeks after it launched after he invited on Drita D’avanzo of the reality show “Mob Wives,” and she repeatedly used profanity on the air. Another “Mob Wives” star Tabacco had on the show, Renee Graziano, also swore on air.
* Tabacco has also been involved in an online TV show called “Street Cents” that touched on mob themes. Here he is interviewing Victoria Gotti. The show now appears to be defunct.
* In 2009 John Tabacco mounted an unsuccessful bid for city council from Staten Island. He later acknowledged to the New York Post that he had received the endorsement of the Independence Party in the race after making a $10,000 loan to the party chairman’s wife. The episode of (in the Post’s words) “possible pay-to-play conduct” was brought to the newspaper by Tabacco himself for reasons that are not entirely clear.
* In 2010, Tabacco attempted to get on an Independence Party primary ballot to challenge U.S. Rep. Michael McMahon — but failed to submit enough valid signatures. The McMahon camp challenged the signatures, alleging that Tabacco had submitted “sheets of names all signed by the same person.” The Board of Elections ruled against Tabacco, finding that he had not collected the 497 signatures needed to get on the ballot. In response, Tabacco filed a lawsuit to appeal the ruling  – but then withdrew it without explanation.
*  John Tabacco has been a regular guest on Neil Cavuto’s Fox News show going back to 2008. Transcripts frequently identify him as a “Fox business analyst.” Tabacco tells me he is a “contributor to Fox and CNBC” but he is not paid.
* John Tabacco is the CEO of LocateStock. According to its website, the firm’s “Matador Platform” will help you “optimize hedging strategies by getting locates on hard-to-borrow securities.” The site also throws around words like “revolutionary” and “unique” to describe its product. For a company offering “exclusive real time access to a global pool of securities,” the website has remarkably low production values and features a lot of random Wall Street-themed stock art.  In an interview Tabacco told me the company provides tools that allow “retail traders” to engage in short-selling.
* Tabacco made “his nationwide television debut” on the VH1 series “My Coolest Years” in 2005, according to one of his bios.
* The brothers have a local sports show, which is produced by “Tabacco TV.” In this episode, they box each other at a gym in Brooklyn:
(Hat tip to Will Smith and Adam Katz for the find.)
* John said his brother Derek is the CEO of FreeTheFan.com, described as “a competitive social community for sports fans.” But the site appears to be defunct, and its Twitter feed, which has six followers, was last updated in 2009.
* UPDATE: Derek Tabacco also appeared on season 4 of the Bravo reality show “Millionaire Matchmaker.” (Thanks to reader Lizz K for the tip.)
So what’s next for the Tabaccos? It sounds like they’re going to ride the anti-Occupy theme for as long as possible. There is now a “wallstfighters” Twitter feed.
“We had a strategy session last night,” Tabacco told me. “We have a couple strategic counter-protests coming up.” But, he added, they’re not ready to reveal the details.

Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at jelliott@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustinMore Justin Elliott http://www.salon.com/2011/11/18/the_bizarre_history_of_the_ows_counter_protesters/singleton/