Bad Behavior at the DNC - Faux News
I just saw a YouTube video about demonstrators at the DNC. Griff Jenkins from Fox was reporting and he stated that "many different groups" were there, who came together to say that they want an end to the Iraq war and didn't want one started in Iran and "That is their message." So far so good. But then he went into the crowd and tried asking some of the protesters why they were there. Most of the responses he got were people refusing to talk to him. Then one person in a bandanna told him something, which sounded like, "F*** you." That turned into a cry of "F*** Fox News!" I'll post the video.
This really disappointed me because it allowed Jenkins to discredit all of the people who were there and their cause. It is what he wanted and they played into his hands perfectly. I can understand why people said these things...I won't go too into detail about Fox News because that is a whole other discussion : ) I believe that people should express their views on Fox, but shouting obscenities at a reporter is only going to work against them.
I'm posting this in the "Engagement and Responsibility" forum. The engagement here was right on, but did these people forget the responsibility part? By these few actions, they have turned off a big chunk of the American population. I wonder how many people out there are now going to associate these demonstators with negative words; ignorant, violent, etc. Please be careful. I couldn't really make out the bandanas that well...were they flag bandanas?
I'm not trying to 'discipline' anyone there who said these things. I assume some of them are on this site. I truly do understand where you are coming from, but if the point is to reach people who have not yet been reached, then you must do so with compassion and understanding for those people. They will not listen if you don't.
My question is: when confronted with a reporter like that, from a news station like that...is it possible to get our views across? And if not, how can we state our opinions more rational way?
As a sidenote, I just received a bulletin on myspace from someone who did an interview with this reporter. I'll quote him here:
"Funny story: I personally had a run in with this same "reporter" at the March 17, 2007 protest at the Pentagon. He didn't run my lengthy interview when I did stop talk to him, because at the end I sarcastically 'thanked' him for upholding the journalistic standards of Nazi Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels" -I don't know his real name, but his myspace name is :Companero
This really disappointed me because it allowed Jenkins to discredit all of the people who were there and their cause. It is what he wanted and they played into his hands perfectly. I can understand why people said these things...I won't go too into detail about Fox News because that is a whole other discussion : ) I believe that people should express their views on Fox, but shouting obscenities at a reporter is only going to work against them.
I'm posting this in the "Engagement and Responsibility" forum. The engagement here was right on, but did these people forget the responsibility part? By these few actions, they have turned off a big chunk of the American population. I wonder how many people out there are now going to associate these demonstators with negative words; ignorant, violent, etc. Please be careful. I couldn't really make out the bandanas that well...were they flag bandanas?
I'm not trying to 'discipline' anyone there who said these things. I assume some of them are on this site. I truly do understand where you are coming from, but if the point is to reach people who have not yet been reached, then you must do so with compassion and understanding for those people. They will not listen if you don't.
My question is: when confronted with a reporter like that, from a news station like that...is it possible to get our views across? And if not, how can we state our opinions more rational way?
As a sidenote, I just received a bulletin on myspace from someone who did an interview with this reporter. I'll quote him here:
"Funny story: I personally had a run in with this same "reporter" at the March 17, 2007 protest at the Pentagon. He didn't run my lengthy interview when I did stop talk to him, because at the end I sarcastically 'thanked' him for upholding the journalistic standards of Nazi Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels" -I don't know his real name, but his myspace name is :Companero
Views: 1
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tolerance on -
I totally agree with you. I am the Public Relations Director for an art museum in Denver, and one big thing I've learned from this position is that you must always represent your organization in a positve and professional manner in front of the media because they can totally screw your image over. PR isn't just for businesses, it's for all organizations. Perhaps having a PR training session for people wanting to march and represent something bigger than themselves would be a good idea so that we can get our points across in a more effective manner.
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Permalink Reply by kt on -
That would be awesome if it could be organized. The Code of Conduct for this site is a good place to start....I think this situation could be filed under the term of:
"Dialogue: We believe in engaging in respectful dialogue with others and commit to listening to people who disagree with us."
Maybe this is something that could be discussed at the FWT National Conference in a couple months.
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Permalink Reply by lowkey on -
OK, I'm a little confused here. You don't like that people told the Fox News reporter to F--K Off but you still call it Faux News? Both are disrespectful. It's only a matter of degree and by saying it here you are implicitly giving the OK for others to do it. Others who may or may not understand the context and situation.
Remember, most often those things that annoy us are our own faults reflected back in other people.
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Permalink Reply by kt on
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It's not exactly an issue of disrespect. What I am saying is that you have to be smart in the choices you make when you are fighting for a cause. Me writing "Faux news" here on a site that is intended to spark discussion and action (and where many people will already know what I am talking about and where I'm coming from) is completely different than telling a Fox News reporter to F*** off. Remember that I said I knew where those people were coming from. It is not the thought behind the actions that I am concerned with, but the level of integrity of those actions.
Also, the quote I posted from that guy who got interviewed by Jenkins...He said that he did a lengthy interview with him, but that it didn't get aired because he likened him to a Nazi propagandist. To me, that's a bad choice. It's funny, but that guy is really intelligent and I bet he made some great points. But he never got anywhere because he 'attacked' the reporter. Sometimes you have to grit your teeth and befriend the enemy.
btw, even though I feel that it doesn't apply to the discussion I started, I really love your comment about our own faults reflected in other people. It reminds me of a quote that says something like, "Everything that annoys you about other people can lead to an understanding of yourself." So true, thanks for that.
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Permalink Reply by Parano1d on -
Yeah it is kind of rediculous, they could of easily said no instead of throwing in the cuss words.
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Permalink Reply by Noxshus on -
The anchor and the reporter had written these people off before they said a word, that was very evident.
That's not people who disagree with us, those are the oppressors. That guy is a baby O'Reilly, the type that will spin anything you say - they could have said nothing but "Peace and Love" and he would have called them anarchists, or some other scare word.
So yeah. Fuck Fox News.
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Permalink Reply by kt on
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I realize that...that's why I said that those people played right into his hands beautifully. But the point is that chanting obscenities may feel great, but it is an action that is working against you. Liquid Mercury started a discussion around an article/essay written by Douglas Orbaker. In it he states that the most popular veiws of demonstraters are often one of two opinions, and I quote:
Demonstrations:
People standing up for justice and right
-OR-
Angry people making fools of themselves
And the reaction that I'm concerned with is not how the demonstration was viewed by Jenkins or Fox News, but the opinion of those watching. If people would have responded with "Peace and Love" and the news tried to spin that into an anarchy idea, then so what? Maybe people at home will listen to the reporter or maybe they will listen to the demonstraters and try to find out more about their cause. What is definite is that many people will look at those demonstraters shouting swear words and write them off automatically. It is fuel for the fire against us.
btw, I can't say enough about that article I mentioned. I would highly recommend it. The link to it is under the "Engagement and Responsibility" forum, under the heading "How to Talk to 'Middle America' about Progressive Issues."
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Permalink Reply by Ploppy on -
If the people who said fuck "Fuck Fox News!" had instead given a lengthy and brilliant discourse on why they were there, it would have either been ignored by Fox or edited out of all recognition so it could be spun and still make them look bad. Whilst I believe in reasoned, rational discussions wherever possible, Fox news isn't going to provide an outlet for progressive views. Engaging with Fox news on their terms isn't going to work, the editors and 'news' personnel have too much leverage to twist the truth. As for those watching who may have gotten the wrong impression of those involved, if their watching Fox news they're already absorbing rather large amounts of right-wing propaganda. It's better to engage those people through other outlets [such as the internet and site like this] then fighting a losing battle to get any sane messages through Fox news.
I've actually seen this before, on a liberal blog called Stop All Monsters.
To quote that blog: "Fox News reporters seem to be under the delusion that they are not part of the Republican Party. " Those protesters, clearly, are not under any such delusions regarding Fox.
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Permalink Reply by kt on
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I agree, of course Fox will do those things. And yes a lengthy and brilliant discourse wouldn't have worked, especially in that context when the reporter is in a crowd of marchers and Fox would probably spin it. I think that's why David, in his reply, said that they could have easily said, "No, I don't want to talk to you." Or given some other short, simple answer....anything but making yourself look bad.
You say that it's better to engage people in other outlets, like the internet and sites like this than to fight a losing battle with Fox news, but the point I'm making is that the protesters in this situation were trying to fight a losing battle with Fox...and that things like this should be avoided. You say that engaging with Fox on their terms isn't going to work, but my point is that those protesters DID engage with Fox on Fox's terms....they gave exactly the kind of response that Jenkins was looking for.
I feel like my point is being missed. Did anyone see Tolerance's reply up there...he said, "you must always represent your organization in a positve and professional manner in front of the media because they can totally screw your image over."
It's a valid point. Can we at least agree that these protester's behavior was neither positive or professional?
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Permalink Reply by RdynAbl on -
Agreed.....100%. They might not have listened if the protesters had said what they were there for and yes, it would have been turned against them, but these protesters made Fox's work easy for them. They showed themselves as angry, hypocritical people that had no real direction, just hate........I'm not saying that they WERE these things...just that they portrayed themselves this way. If you have an adversary that you KNOW turns your words and actions around to look corrupt and misguided, why give them ammunition?
This was not a protest of peace and love......you can't fight for peace when you're shoving a reporter and his camera-man around in mob shouting "F*** You!" and waving the finger. We have to remember our goal, Peace and love, and it STARTS with us.....you might hate what the government and media our doing, but love the people who are doing it, because they our blind humans.....we can't tell the government to show peace to their enemies, if we don't show it to ours .
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Permalink Reply by BRIAN on -
Fox news is a bunch of clowns. Thats why CNN blew them away in ratings durring the DNC.
They would have gotten the same response if the went into a NRA meeting asking questions. If they wanted answers they could set up a time and place to speak with activists. Jumping into the middle of a march looking like "Wheres Waldo" is gonna get you your ass kicked nomatter who is marching.
Fox wanted to make liberals look like idiots to please thier right wing fan base.....what a joke!
Where was FOX durring our peacefull march after the Rage Against the Machine/Flobots show on the 27th?
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