Protest CNN Tomorrow/A Caution About Gory Protest Signs

I was recently forwarded an announcement about a protest of CNN's poor coverage of the war (the announcement is pasted below). The protest is tomorrow (Wednesday the 25th), and it encourages people to bring pictures of victims of the war. <p>

I was a participant in Thursday's direct action to stop the war and plan to attend the CNN protest. Though I do not generally disagree with radical tactics, I want to strongly caution people against using gory images at this or any other peace protest.

CNN has a responsibility to show the war for the horror that it is. I worry, however, that pictures of bloodied victims in the hands of activists will turn the public against the peace movement rather than against the war. A similar problem beset the anti-choice movement when they started carrying large photos of mangled fetuses which they claimed had been aborted. Following the emergence of that tactic in the movement, public opinion surveys showed less support for anti-choicers. People perceived the activists to take a sort of pleasure in flaunting the photos' morbidity.

Though CNN's decision not to air gruesome footage is likely influenced by their wartime relationship with the military, I'd also wager that they're worried that people will just change the channel if they see too much of something unpleasant. If CNN, with all their polling and advanced market research, is worried people about people tuning them out due to their use of graphic war images, I believe we should be too.

As we struggle to end this war through public protest, we must remember that many Americans, including myself, have family members who are fighting this war. They are worried for their kids, parents and siblings' safety. Some are also worried about what kind of climate their family members will return to and will not support a movement that accuses their family of murder. CNN's responsibility is to tell the truth, even at the risk of offending viewers. For us, however, that risk is too great.

I urge everyone engaged in the peace movement to be mindful of the messages we send. I hope that when we gather tomorrow before passerby's and the media, the message they hear will be "Tell the Truth" not "Give Us More Gore".







>
> ----------
> From: "Media Alliance" <listserve [at] media-alliance.org>
> Reply-To: "Action Alerts" <alerts [at] media-alliance.org>
> Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 10:51:25 -0800
> To: "Action Alerts" <alerts [at] media-alliance.org>
> Subject: CNN Protest, Wed 3/26 at Noon!
>
> Protest CNN?s War Coverage
> Wednesday 3/26, Noon
> 50 California Street (b/w Embarcadero & Davis)
> Downtown San Francisco
>
> Bring signs with pictures of Iraqi and American
> victims of war, and your best signs about the
> media's coverage.
>
> This weekend the United States dropped more than
> 1500 bombs and missiles on Baghdad, a city the
> size of Los Angeles. In Basra, a city of more
> than 1 million, the U.S. military actions left
> the population without water and electricity.
>
> The reality of war is not antiseptic?it is
> bloody and has devastating consequences on
> human beings and the environment.
>
> But what are the images we?re seeing on CNN?
>
> We are seeing a video war with select commentary
> from former military generals or from Pentagon-
> approved journalists "embedded" within the US
> military. We are seeing the version of war that
> the U.S. government would like the public to
> believe ? not the reality on the ground in Iraq.
>
> How many houses were destroyed this weekend? How
> many Americans and Iraqis have been killed? What
> was it like for children who heard hundreds of
> bombs exploding around them all day long? What
> is happening in Basra, where the population no
> longer has access to water or electricity? Who
> are the people that are filling the hospitals?
>
> TAKE ACTION
>
> Join Media Alliance, Global Exchange, and CodePink
> for a rally and picket at CNN to demand that this
> worldwide news network provide Americans with the
> images of war that people in other parts of the
> world are already seeing (see article below)
>
> War is not pretty, but journalism is about
> reporting the truth, whether it?s pretty or not.
>
>