As he accumulates his "Occupy Rap Sheet" over at BigJournalism.com, John Nolte has made some excellent points about the nature of the press's coverage which should not be missed. His incident count is up to 151. It will certainly grow based on more recent events which haven't yet made it to his compilation (this is just a sample): A $10 million arson arrest in Fort Collins, Colorado (really; HT The Other McCain); pushing a 78 year-old woman down a flight of stairs (she required a hospital visit); and a lack of basic safety so pervasive at Zuccotti park, the headquarters of the "movement, that "protesters put up (a) women-only tent to prevent sexual assaults."
Nolte's count is clearly an understatement of all that is actually happening. He also notes that the nature of the press's coverage serves to understate the disorder- and violence-based inclinations of the Occupiers (internal link is in original; bolds are mine):
... when it came to the Tea Party, the MSM was notorious for amplifying a single incident (that was usually a lie) and using it to attempt to smear and define an entire movement. This is what you do when you want to quickly take out a political enemy.
The MSM’s contextual game changes, however, when their desire is to strengthen a movement and give it credibility and room to grow. By dutifully reporting individual incidents but not reporting on the growing scope and size of Occupy Wall Street lawlessness, the MSM is willfully covering up the violence, vandalism, and anti-Semitism that truly does define this movement.
Moreover, by intentionally keeping the pieces of this story scattered, the MSM is allowed to have their cake and eat it too. No one can accuse them of not reporting these incidents, but by choosing not to bring the pieces together, the MSM ensures the least amount of public relations damage is done to the Occupiers. ... Among others, The New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, and the LA Times have willfully chosen not to use the resources at their disposal to give the public an honest look at this growing menace. In their partisan minds, truth doesn’t trump agenda.
... What is true is that on October 18, pollster Doug Schoen (a Democrat!) discovered that a full 31% of Occupiers were willing to commit violence in pursuit of their agenda, whatever that is. As a response to this startling and frightening admission, the MSM either outright ignored or dismissed it. ... when it comes to their willingness to break the law, the Occupiers are keeping their word.
It isn't just the violence which is being covered up or minimized. Again, just a sample:
- "Here's The Real Reason Why Occupy Wall Street Protesters Aren't Getting Kicked Out Of Zuccotti Park" -- "(New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's) longtime domestic partner Diana Taylor is on the Board of Directors at Brookfield Properties (which owns Zuccotti Park) along with John E. Zuccotti himself."
- "Many Occupy Wall Street protesters live in luxury" -- among those arrested in New York during Occupy Wall Street's first month, "at least 95 of the protesters’ residences are worth approximately $500,000 or more. The median monthly rent for those living in apartments whose information is readily available is $1,850."
- Its hostility towards capitalism and inclination towards collectivism, as captured in pictures at Michelle Malkin's blog early Thursday morning.
Over at Hot Air this afternoon, Allahpundit summarized it best:
... the coverage of OWS protests compared to the coverage of tea-party protests is the worst media double standard in recent history. Nothing compares, because nothing else involves this much distortion on both ends of the coverage.
Indeed.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
