NP Ignoring Reality at the Inauguration

[Doug Millison]

>
>ACTION ALERT:
>IGNORING REALITY AT THE INAUGURATION
>New York Times Stresses "Legitimacy" Over Democracy
>
>January 22, 2001
>
>The New York Times editorial the day after George W. Bush's inauguration ("A
>Vision of Unity," 1/21/01) predicted, based on the inaugural address, that
>Bush could "lift the nation to a new era of inclusion and social justice,"
>and found room to describe how "the gloomy light of a winter's day was
>offset by splashes of color like Laura Bush's blue coat."
>
>But it didn't find space to mention the most striking feature of the 2001
>inauguration: that it occurred amidst widespread and angry protests
>rejecting the legitimacy of Bush's claim to office, the likes of which have
>not been faced by any modern president.  Along the parade route, he was
>confronted by signs with messages like "Shame," "Bush Lost" and "Hail to the
>Thief." The London Guardian (1/22/01) reported that the inaugural parade
>"fell well short of being triumphant, and on many occasions during its slow
>advance through the drizzle, the sound of jeering drowned out the cheers."
>
>But the front page of the New York Times showcased stories like "Bush,
>Taking Office, Calls for Civility, Compassion and 'Nation of Character';
>Unity Is a Theme" and "Proud Father and Son Bask in History's Glow"-- both
>of which discussed Bush's teary-eyed father while avoiding any mention of
>protesters.
>
>While the Times' news editors could not totally ignore the estimated 20,000
>demonstrators, they did their best to downplay them, placing the one story
>about them ("Protesters in the Thousands Sound Off in the Capitol") on page
>17, the sixth out of eight pages of inauguration coverage. This article
>featured one quote from Rev. Al Sharpton and one from a demonstrator who
>spoke of the "inchoate feeling" that led her to march. This abbreviated
>presentation of the viewpoints of the tens of thousands of anti-Bush
>protesters was "balanced" by another quote from one of the hundred
>anti-abortion activists who demonstrated outside Planned Parenthood's
>offices.
>
>All told, the story measured 15 column inches out of eight full pages of
>inauguration coverage. (It was about three-fourths the length of "Floridians
>of the G.O.P. Savor 'Special Victory,' " on page 18.) The accompanying
>photo, a tiny 2"x3" shot of one of the day's anti-Bush marches, was the only
>one out of 19 inauguration-related photos in the paper to show any sign of
>dissent.
>
>Another inside-pages story, "Echoes of the Past, Near and Far, Are Heard on
>the Capital's Streets," included a lone protester outside the Supreme Court
>building, but presented him as well outnumbered by Republican
>counter-demonstrators singing "God Bless America."
>
>The most telling story of the inauguration package was a front-page news
>analysis headlined "Tradition and Legitimacy: A Nation's Old Rituals Begin
>to Dissolve Lingering Clouds of a Bitter Election Battle." This piece, by
>R.W. Apple, did mention the demonstrations-- in order to minimize their
>significance:
>
>"Arguments about the legitimacy of the Texas governor's victory have
>persisted even as the country accepted the fact that he had won. Thousands
>of the doubtful and disenchanted took to the streets of Washington today in
>angry protest. But the debate is likely to grow softer as the nation grows
>accustomed to pictures of Mr. Bush speaking from the Oval Office, boarding
>Air Force One, accompanied everywhere he goes by the strains of 'Ruffles and
>Flourishes' and 'Hail to the Chief.' In the television age, those images,
>more that anything else, confer the mantle of authority and legitimacy on a
>leader."
>
>The notion that it is media images, not the votes of citizens accurately
>counted, that give legitimacy to a leader is profoundly anti-democratic. The
>media's role in trying to shore up the fragile credibility of the
>establishment was a theme in the most insightful piece in the New York
>Times' inauguration coverage, "Reality of Nation's Divisions Quickly Creeps
>into the Commentary, " by TV critic Caryn James. She notes TV pundits'
>attempt to "retreat into a soothing little bubble where every action they
>observe is majestic and every viewer shares their sense of awe"--a bubble
>that was punctured by "visible evidence of furious protesters along the
>parade route."
>
>Because it was not obliged to present live video footage of that "visible
>evidence," the New York Times was much more successful than the television
>networks in minimizing the fact that tens of thousands of citizens from
>across the country marched on D.C. to reject Bush's assumption of power as
>illegitimate and undemocratic.  The Times left readers with the impression
>that the dominant themes of the day were "Unity," "Tradition" and, above
>all, "Legitimacy."
>
>
>ACTION: Please write to the New York Times if you thought that the protests
>against George W. Bush's inauguration were an important story and deserved
>more prominence in the Times' inauguration coverage.
>
>CONTACT:
>New York Times
>229 West 43rd St.
>New York, NY 10036-3959
>
>mailto:nytnews at nytimes.com
>Toll free comment line: 1-888-NYT-NEWS
>
>                                ----------
>
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