According to Good Morning America's Josh Elliott on Monday, the Occupy "protests within sight of the White House turned violent over the weekend." Actually, the protests occurred at McPherson Square, two blocks from the White House and not in "sight" of it. (See a map here.)
Perhaps Mr. Elliott, who grew up in California and went to high school in Los Angeles, can be forgiven for such an error. It's bizarre that the Washington Post, in a front page story, made the same mistake. Monday's paper claimed the latest protest occurred "in view of the White House."
On CBS's Early Show, Betty Nguyen got the geographical facts right, but used sympathetic language for the liberal group: "Another crackdown on Occupy Wall Street protesters. More than 30 people were arrested for refusing to leave McPherson Square park in Washington, DC."
NBC's Savannah Guthrie also avoided Elliott's hyperbole: "A standoff between Occupy Washington protesters and U.S. park police ended last night when officers used a cherry picker to remove a half dozen protesters from the roof of a wooden shack."
A transcript of the three news reports can be found below:
GMA
7:13
12/05/11
12/05/2011
07:3 am EST
CBS - The Early Show
BETTY NGUYEN: Another crackdown on Occupy Wall Street protesters. (clip of protester being arrested in Washington, DC) More than 30 people were arrested for refusing to leave McPherson Square park in Washington, DC. Police used a cherry picker to grab those who refused to climb down a wooden structure they had built.
12/05/11
7:15AM
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: A standoff between Occupy Washington protesters and U.S. park police ended last night when officers used a cherry picker to remove a half dozen protesters from the roof of a wooden shack. Police say 31 people were arrested after they refused to dismantle that structure, which had gone up over the night on Saturday.
