Wall Street protests

Occupy Wall Street, Still Seeping Into the NYT's Consciousness
By Clay Waters | January 12, 2012 | 5:56 PM EST

New York Times reporter Sabrina Tavernise highlighted a Pew Research Center survey in Thursday's “Survey Finds Rising Strain Between Rich And the Poor,” and quickly suggested it meant “the message of income inequality brandished by the Occupy Wall Street movement and pressed by Democrats may be seeping into the national consciousness.”

Tavernise also used a convenient source to credit the left-wing squatters for putting "the issue of undeserved wealth and fairness in American society at the top of the news." Thanks to sympathetic outlets like the Times, of course.

CNN Gives Positive Look Into Fringe Group of Hackers and Thieves
By Matt Hadro | January 12, 2012 | 5:40 PM EST

The group "Anonymous" claims to be an arm of the Occupy movement and has made headlines for stealing credit card numbers and publishing personal information of police officers. A report by CNN's Amber Lyon might have made audiences think twice about their dubious reputation with her sneak-peek of an upcoming CNN Presents story "Anonymous" that airs Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Explaining the cause behind Anonymous and noting how they call themselves the "Air Force" of the Occupy movement is more like free publicity for the group than a critical investigation. Though CNN mentioned members' arrests at the hands of the FBI, Lyon also pointed out during the 3 p.m. hour of Newsroom how "the majority of them are just average Joe Americans."

WashPost Columnist Examines the Plight of 'Occuparents'
By Ken Shepherd | January 12, 2012 | 4:17 PM EST

If you didn't think the Washington Post coverage of the Occupy D.C. protests jumped the shark with the Sunday paper's coverage of Occupy lust at first blight, maybe Petula Dvorak's online column "Occupy squalor: the ultimate test for helicopter parents," will do the trick.

"Occuparenting isn’t easy," Dvorak began. "Your precious children? The ones who had violin lessons and SAT tutors and years of orthodontia and organic lunches?" They're now "sleeping under tarps, in the mud, rain and frigid temperatures, in an encampment that is home to an epic urban rat infestation."

One-Year-Old Child Left Alone in Occupy D.C. Tent, Network Morning Shows Ignore Story
By Ken Shepherd | January 12, 2012 | 10:50 AM EST

A 13-month-old child was found yesterday morning, unsupervised and wearing only a onesie, in a tent in the Occupy D.C. squatters camp in McPherson Square. To their credit, some Occupiers notified authorities, who arrested a man who showed up later claiming to be the baby's father. That being said, it's just the latest criminal incident which highlights the ongoing problems of the 3-month long "occupation" of an urban square that was never intended for overnight camping.

But, of course, the media are doing their darndest to downplay or ignore the story: ABC's Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and NBC's Today failed to report the incident. The Washington Post placed their 7-paragraph story on page B6. A review of the websites for the ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliate stations in D.C. shows they are not trumpeting the story as significant. Ditto with WTOP.com, the website for the region's all-news radio station.

Scarborough: Perry 'Sounds Like Stoned NYU Grad Student In Zuccotti Park'
By Mark Finkelstein | January 12, 2012 | 7:42 AM EST

Joe Scarborough said it about Rick Perry, but it could perhaps have applied to other Republican presidential contenders who are going after Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital.

On Morning Joe today, discussing Perry's depiction of venture capitalists like Romney as "vultures," Scarborough said that the Texas governor: "sounds like a stoned NYU grad student in Zuccotti Park."  Video after the jump.

Update: Kid Pan Alley Admits Occupy Song Lyrics Were Theirs
By Paul Wilson | January 11, 2012 | 10:34 AM EST

After a host of conservative media outlets, including the Culture and Media Institute, exposed Kid Pan Alley for "helping" Virginia third-graders write a song praising the Occupy Movement, their director came out and apologized for its attempts at political indoctrination.

Kid Pan Alley's founder, Paul Reisler, has issued an apology and taken full responsibility for the lyrics of the song "Part of the 99." In his apology, Reisler acknowledged that "the message has been overshadowed by the use of phrases that are currently politically charged, such as 'I'm part of the 99' and 'They're the one percent,'" and that "he should have avoided the introduction of these phrases into the songwriting process."

Priorities: AP Treats 20 People Spending Night at Zuccotti Park as National News
By Tom Blumer | January 11, 2012 | 9:48 AM EST

The 8:52 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. national headlines page at the Associated Press's main site this morning teased a story about how twenty -- wow, a whole twenty -- Occupy Wall Street protesters spent the night at Zuccotti Park after barricades which had been up for almost two months were removed. Not only that, but the related brief story (saved here as a graphic for future reference, fair use and discussion purposes), has an accompanying series of four photos (most stories usually have just one).

Here's the story as of 8:57 a.m.:

NBC: How Much Will Romney's Business Experience 'Hurt' Him in 'Anti-Wall Street Occupy Climate'?
By Kyle Drennen | January 9, 2012 | 5:10 PM EST

Talking to MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry portrayed one of Mitt Romney's strength's as a weakness: "How vulnerable do you think Mitt Romney could be in highlighting his business background, given this sort of anti-Wall Street Occupy climate we're in?"

Ratigan seized on the opportunity and ranted: "Mitt Romney's liabilities as an American businessman are among the highest of any businessman in this country.....there is a second class of business person that was invented in the past 30 years of this country who literally exploits their ability to borrow money at the risk to this nation....and then taking other people's jobs away to do so is not capitalism. It is, in effect, an exploitation."

Curry followed up: "So you're saying this could hurt Mitt Romney?" Ratigan replied: "100%."

Media Ignores Fact 'Kid Pan Alley' Led by Leftist Activists, Democratic Donors
By Paul Wilson | January 9, 2012 | 10:27 AM EST

Conservative media outlets raised the alarm about a song praising the Occupy movement, called "Part of the 99," that was supposedly created by Albemarle County, Va. third graders and supervised by members of a group called Kid Pan Alley. The mainstream media, predictably, tried to sweep the controversy over the rug. But both conservative and mainstream outlets failed to report the fact that the several of the directors of Kid Pan Alley are avowed liberals, donating to Democratic politicians and embracing liberal causes.

As reported by Weasel Zippers, the Occupier-praising song was created under the auspices of Kid Pan Alley, a Charlottesville-based group which goes into schools and allows children to be songmakers. Kid Pan Alley boasts that it inspires "kids [to] use their imaginations - to be creators of their own music." The group has a wide reach: according to its website, the group has "written over 1,800 songs with over 30,000 children."

The Hot (Sex) Occupy Story: WaPo Tells of Protester 'Cuddle Puddles' and 'Occubabies' on the Way
By Tim Graham | January 9, 2012 | 6:56 AM EST

The cold weather may have really cut into the crowds "occupying" two public spaces in the nation's capital, but The Washington Post doesn't care about crowd size. It's still publicizing some sort of protest juggernaut, like a ski resort manufactures snow when none has fallen. The Post's Sunday front page was dominated by the headline "LOVE AMID THE TENTS." The biggest "news" of the day was casual sex, hippie-style.

Post reporter Annie Gowen proclaimed that "As the Occupy movement enters its fourth month locally, it has spawned two full-service camps, more than 100 arrests and an ongoing constitutional debate over the right to free speech on federal land. But a combustible combination of youthful energy, enthusiasm for shared ideals and tight living quarters has given rise to something else: Romance. Lots and lots of romance." The bolded part was italicized and sprawled above a four-column picture taken inside a tent looking out.

CNN's O'Brien Grills Bachmann But Hands Soft Interview to 'Occupy' Protesters
By Matt Hadro | January 3, 2012 | 1:54 PM EST

CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien has had a history of liberal bias – to a scale approaching activism – and she showed where her newest CNN show might be headed on Tuesday with a completely liberal double-standard in her interviews.

During the 7 a.m. hour of CNN's Starting Point, O'Brien hit GOP candidate Michele Bachmann from the left on homosexuality, but later teed up liberal "Occupy" protesters to defend their cause and claim to be "non-partisan." Bachmann blasted O'Brien's "gotcha" question and insisted that voters are focused on economic issues.

CNN's Kosik: Occupy Outrage 'Has Encouraged Consumers to Band Together and Protest What They See as Unfair'
By Mike Bates | January 1, 2012 | 5:13 PM EST

On yesterday's CNN Saturday Morning News, business correspondent Alison Kosik reported on Verizon Wireless's reversal of a day-old plan to charge some customers a $2 bill-paying fee.  Citing recent about-faces by Bank of America and Netflix, Kosik concluded:

Now, there's no direct connection here, but I can't help but believe that the outrage that we witnessed in the Occupy movement around the country has encouraged consumers to band together and protest what they see as unfair.
 
The Verizon Wireless fee fight is another example of the growing power of U.S. consumers, especially when they take their case to the internet.

Like others in the mainstream media, Kosik seems determined to credit the Occupy movement with some positive accomplishment regardless of reality.  Forget all the crimes, disturbances, threats, and associated costs emanating from the malcontents with no discernable agenda other than taking someone else's money.  Their motives are pure and, although the media can't identify a direct connection between their often contemptible behavior and consumer empowerment, people like Kosik will say she believes there is one.