Protesters on hand to greet the Vice President

Analysis:

Like the WOOD TV 8 story, this story on a protest outside of Vice President Dick Cheney’s September 14, 2007 speech begins with a sort of “play-by-play” of the protest, talking about how there were few protestors outside of the Gerald R. Ford Museum until a group of them marched over from Rosa Parks Circle. From there, the reporter goes on to state that the Vice President never saw the protestors, although a video produced by Media Mouse shows that the motorcade did pass by the protestors at another location.

More important than that minor factual inaccuracy is the way in which the reporter frames the protest. He introduces the only protestor quoted in the story–who is with the group ACTIVATE/SDS–by stating that the protestors “knew their protest would not make an immediate impact.” The story then quotes the protestor using a statement that begins with the protestor saying “clearly an event like this isn’t going to end the war in and of itself.” While the protestor eventually does say that they are against the war and that the majority of Americans support a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq (a claim that is never verified), how do the reporter’s comments shape the viewers opinion of the effectiveness of antiwar protest?

Finally, the reporter explains that WZZM 13 will be talking to people on the streets to see what “the average person think[s]” about the war. Does this conclusion make viewers think that the “average person” disagrees with the protestors?

Story:

WZZM 13 Reporter: There were only a handful of protestors here until just moments before the Vice President’s arrival. In fact, they were actually at Rosa Parks Circle and then they marched over here to the museum with noisemakers, loud whistles, and a banner all to say that they oppose the war. The Vice President however, never saw them. Much like President Bush, he arrived and left through the backdoors avoiding the protestors completely, but that is really not unusual. The protestors say that they new that would happen and that they knew that their protest would not make an immediate impact.

Protestor: Clearly an event like this isn’t going to end the war in and of itself, but doing this stuff builds communities of like-minded people who can network together and follow this administration around, let them know anywhere they go they are opposed to their policy, they are opposed to this war. The majority of Americans support a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

WZZM 13 Reporter: Now obviously the 100+ people here all shared the same sentiment, an immediate end to the war in Iraq. But what does the average person think? We’re going to talk to a few people right off the streets. We’ll bring you their opinions on WZZM 13 news at 5:30.