Occupying the media: strategies and impacts

¶ … Elite Media Strategies Marginalize the Occupy Movement," Jackie Smith discusses one of the most pertinent and overpowering movements of today's generation. The Occupy Wall Street movement has taken not just New York, but the whole country by storm, and has continued to affect many people worldwide. Because of its extent, celebrities have also become involved, and thus, the media's attention has gravitated heavily towards this particular cultural phenomenon. This short paper will discuss Ms. Smith's article, as well as two additional points-of-view on the movement, as well as examine how the media is portrayed by these authors.

How Elite Media Strategies Marginalize the Occupy Movement by Jackie Smith

In Jackie Smith's piece, the journalist argues that the Occupy Movement has been wrongly portrayed by the media, and has been presented "with a highly misleading image of OWS [Occupy Wall Street] protests that reinforces the mainstream media representation of most left-wing political protests as disorganized, violence-prone mobs." (Smith, 2012) Smith further argues that the Occupy Movement is, like other historic movements, such as the Civil Rights Movement, non-violent and instead seeks to demonstrate the inequalities engendered by various segments of society.

Occupy and the Hostile Media by Boots Riley

The two other articles are also focusing on how the media portrays the movement and seem to, in part, offer a similar position to that of Smith, leading one to believe that, indeed, the media has only seen 'one side of the coin,' in this instance. In the first of these articles, entitled "Occupy and the Hostile Media," the author discusses the negative portrayal, by the media, of every progressive movement in U.S. history, with Occupy being no exception. The instances given on this point are as follows,

"[…] During the rest of the civil rights movement, protesters who were fire-hosed and otherwise brutalized were called "violent protesters" in the mainstream media […]" and "[…] During the Anti-Vietnam War movement, the mainstream media portrayed protesters as out of touch, violent, and dirty." (Riley, 2012)

From these two quotations alone one can see that the media cannot, often, overlook its most sensational nature, with which it then aims to sway public opinion. But this, instead of helping the people, often misleads them. Thus, the media must put profit last, and public good first, a thing which it has found hard to do very often, according to Riley, and one which is no exception today.

How Media Portrays Occupy Wall Street: Two Sides of the Coin by Jessica Layne

The last of the articles gives another way in which to look at the movement through the media's eyes, and elucidates both the positives and the negative, which is a bit of a contrast from the two previous pieces and which is why this article is included here. As with any contentious issue, it is thus important to examine these two sides. Layne, the author of this piece argues that the media has 'two sides' and that "one side celebrates the protests like tea parties while the other side thinks that everyone who attends [the movement] is against the American nation as a whole." (Layne, 2012) it is thus important to recognize that the media appeals not to the good of the country, but to its own wants, and utilizes this flip-flopping nature, as well as sensationalism, to attain its won selfish goals.