How Do You Get the Media's Attention if You Don't Torch Anything?
On Sunday, I was at Istanbul's Taksim Square with a friend when I heard the sound of a protest. Thinking they might be journalists protesting the seizure of Ahmet Şık’s unpublished book, I walked over to have a look. Wrong protest: This one was for Kurdish civil-rights. The organizers seemed to be the BDP, which is, basically, in a Sinn Fein-IRA relationship with the PKK. I simplify, but that's roughly right.
Not long ago, Taksim Square was the target of a terrorist attack that targeted the police. The TAK--the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, a PKK splinter group--claimed responsibility. On February 28, the PKK ended a six-month ceasefire. Twitter has been bristling with reports of serious clashes between protesters and police in the southeast--none of which have I seen with my own eyes, and thus none of which do I wish to comment upon. I've just seen too much manipulation of the media and Twitter recently to trust any of it.
What I saw with my own eyes at Taksim was this: Absolutely peaceful protesters. They were emotional, but they were not violent or menacing at all. There was no destruction of property. I also saw a professional police force keeping public order without exhibiting a hint of menace or impropriety, no less violence. They were out in large numbers, as well they should have been under the circumstances. They kept the peace. No one was hurt or injured, nothing was damaged, and thousands of passersby enjoyed their sunny Sunday afternoon undisturbed.
I talked to a few of the cops, briefly. My heart always goes out to them when I see them trying to stay on top of a situation like this. They know full well that if anything goes wrong, there will be hell to pay. There were thousands of people in the square, and you only need one to do immense damage. No one was prevented from approaching. There were no traffic barriers. There was no restriction, as far as I could see, on anyone's right to assemble. They had to police this, I presume, through good intelligence and crossed fingers. And it worked.
Will it make the news? Forget it, nothing blew up. Will the protesters' grievances become the subject of worldwide discussion? Forget it, nothing blew up. Will the police be widely lauded for doing their jobs exactly right--for keeping public order, for protecting life, property, the people protesting, the people who wished to enjoy that crowded square, and themselves? Forget it. Nothing blew up.
If you want the world's attention these days, it seems you have to make something blow up. This creates the wrong incentive system.
Peaceful protesters, professional police--at least you got my attention. Well done. What you did on Sunday is what civilization's about.
Update: Here are much better photos. I see from the number of "views" on these pages that almost no one has looked at them. I also see in the photos that many journalists were there and filming (I didn't notice them; I was standing on another side of this). So why didn't this make it into the news? I guess because nothing blew up. Another note: This is being described in the caption as a "civil disobedience act," but why? It was a lawful protest, no one was disobeying anything. It was civil, but not disobedient. That's a good thing.
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: How Do You Get the Media's Attention if You Don't Torch Anything?
One wonders how peaceful and civilized a demonstration demanding that the Turkish government admit the crimes of the Armenian Holocaust might be.
Re: How Do You Get the Media's Attention if You Don't Torch Anything?
You don't have to wonder. They have happened and they have been peaceful, too.
May '10
Re: How Do You Get the Media's Attention if You Don't Torch Anything?
It's a sad day (or a happy one, depending where you live) when the Turks are more civil and orderly than the British. Or the Cheeseheads. Or more saliently, the Greeks.
Re: How Do You Get the Media's Attention if You Don't Torch Anything?
No one who's studied the Thatcher era will be persuaded that the British are civil and orderly. That's really a myth. They can go freaking nuts at the drop of a hat.
Re: How Do You Get the Media's Attention if You Don't Torch Anything?
Claire, your complaint is valid, of course, but not new. Media outlets have always been drawn to the sensational. When I worked in local TV news, I marveled that we would waste 30 seconds of air time with footage of a fire at an abandoned warehouse. Sadly, many protest groups have learned that sensational events garner coverage. The exceptions, of course, are quiet and peaceful rallies for those causes that have been anointed by purveyors of news as noble and worthy.
Re: How Do You Get the Media's Attention if You Don't Torch Anything?
I know it's not new--it's just a problem that makes me despair. And so vividly on evidence in its effects these days.
Jan '11
Re: How Do You Get the Media's Attention if You Don't Torch Anything?
I dislike the fact that we conduct our politics through the media in the first place.
Think of the Wisconsin protests. The story was on the news for days. And what did they see? Crowds. Chanting. Yelling. And what did the media do? They turned to their bullpen of 30-second pundits to comment, who all offered the same analysis. The protests simply gave the talking heads something to talk about, and mostly, the talking heads said nothing that a high school sophomore couldn't have said.
The other thread about a world without speech-writers gives me cause to reflect on the quality of speech these days. Have pictures replaced words?