Democracy and the War on Dissent

In recent months, the Seattle IMC has covered numerous local stories chronicling recent government crackdowns or violations of civil liberties. Some of these have directly resulted from the new anti-terrorist fervor in law enforcement: nonviolent School of the Americas Watch organizers and anti-globalization protesters have been denied entry into Canada; residents and supporters of Seattle's Somali community protested the government shutdown of several Somali-owned businesses, one of which was allegedly suspected of having links to international terrorists. In a ruling that showed remarkable contempt for the First Amendment, a Seattle judge found constitutional the “no-protest zones” created during the WTO to foil demonstrators.

Stories like these get a much different spin in the corporate media, where restrictions on subject matter and actual debate have increased in the post-September 11 patriotic fervor.

The mainstream press, more often than not, takes administration rhetoric at face value, relying on official sources to describe current events, and allowing its claims to go unchallenged. As recently reported by the watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (www.fair.org), mainstream networks CNN and FOX instituted official wartime policies requiring journalists to downplay reports of Afghan civilian casualties. Reporting on domestic approval of the U.S. bombing, NPR's Cokie Roberts was asked by the host whether there were dissenting views among the public.  Her reply: “None that matter.”

In its own public addresses, the Bush administration has foregone thoughtful analysis of complex issues, offering instead “non-negotiable” policies and simplistic explanations.

Reporting on anti-war sentiment, including large demonstrations, is systematically marginal- ized by most mainstream print media as well. When 65,000 demonstrators marched in Washington, DC on October 26, the Washington Post ran a single photo—depicting a lone, angry counter-protester. When acknowledged in written reports, large demonstrations are interpreted as threats to public safety and often described using prejudicial and unwarranted language. Two years afterwards, it is common for the Seattle Times to report as fact wildly inaccurate fantasies about the “riots” and “widespread property destruction” that accompanied WTO protests.

Through ceaseless repetition, this way of marginalizing protest movements has affected even the alternative press. For example, both of Seattle's major alternative weeklies have published articles lightly dismissing recent anti-war protests as unsophisticated, old- fashioned, or muddled.

What Is To Be Done?

Independent Media Centers continue to produce and disseminate important stories and critical perspectives that are overlooked or purposefully ignored by the mainstream. At the same time, we encourage activists to become more analytical consumers of the media, to develop mental tools that make it easier to see around the propaganda, to see how stories are shaped by ideological presuppositions, and to become articulate media critics, speaking about or publishing one's own critiques of the mainstream press.

Here are several guidelines for increasing media literacy skills, followed by additional guidelines for media activists who choose to take up the Indymedia challenge. These guidelines draw from Ali Abunimah and Rania Masri's critique of Gulf War news coverage (in Iraq Under Siege, Anthony Arnove, ed.; South End Press).

Media Literacy Guidelines

1. When reading, watching or listening to news media, become an “analyst.” For every report you come across, ask, “Whose voices are included, whose are excluded? What hidden presuppositions helped shape this story?”

2. Read widely. All news media is shaped by particular political, economic and ethical positions; get your news from multiple sources and read them comparatively and  critically. Seek out noncommercial and international sources of information. For those with Internet access, browsing the web makes this easy. Labor unions, NGOs, and advocacy groups such as the Institute for Policy Studies or Public Citizen, often post detailed news stories concerning specific issues.

3. Discuss your findings with others. As you develop your own good habits, share them with your friends and co-workers. Everyone discusses the news—use these discussions to sharpen your own thinking about the media we consume as well as to educate others.

Independent Guidelines

1. Stay awake. We are all affected by the propaganda pushed by corporate America—activists need to be vigilant in keeping themselves and each other alert.

2. Learn the battlefield and choose your battles. None of us can read or listen to everything; none of us can cover every story. Choose a topic or situation that interests you and learn about it. As time goes by, you will become more expert in your chosen area and readers will learn to trust your writing.

3. Communicate effectively. Write down your observations, make a radio or video piece. Whether you are writing a current events story, a media analysis article or an opinion piece, present facts as accurately as you can. If your piece contains movement jargon or comes across as a rant, readers may put less stock in what you have to say.

4. Develop networks. Make contact with other journalists, activists, or organizations interested in the same issues. Support and advocate for independent media sources.

5. Be persistent. Make things happen. Submit your writings to independent media sources. Publish your articles, photos, video and audio pieces to any Indymedia site (look for the publish button on the front page). Once an article is posted to an IMC, it remains archived there—readers can search for your writings and link to them from elsewhere.                    Z

Jonathan Lawson and Susan Gleason are journalists, educators, and organizers at the Seattle Independent Media Center (seattle.indymedia.org), part of the global IMC network (www.indymedia.org).