Protestors make their voices heard

Analysis:

This WZZM 13 story on protests outside of Vice President Dick Cheney’s September 14, 2007 is split between covering the protests and “finding out” what public opinion on the Iraq War is in Grand Rapids.

Throughout the story, those interviewed make a variety of assertions that are never verified by the reporter. The protestor–Richard Hackler–makes claims about public opinion before the war and now, but the reporter never checks his claims. Similarly, the people interviewed on the street make a variety of claims about the consequences of leaving Iraq, but there is no investigation of those claims.

Moreover, viewers should think about the whether or not the methodology used–random encounters with people on the street–is really indicative of public opinion.

Story:

News Reader #1: Well almost every high profile political visit of course brings protestors.

News Reader #2: And the group ACTIVATE has been protesting for years saying they hope to make a difference. WZZM 13’s Nick Montecelli continues our team coverage with that part of the story.

Reporter: Well Julliette, There were only a handful of protestors on hand, they thought that the rain scared others away. But in reality, those people came shortly before the vice president arrived. So did over 100 protestors marching in with a very strong message.

Pastor: I am offended at our longterm commitment to an immoral war.

Reporter: Those there early were ecstatic to see support against the war.

Pastor: I think people of moral conscience ought to always be asking the question can we be doing better.

Reporter: And the message they brought…

Protestor: We need to be as mad as anybody.

Reporter: …was a unified one.

Protestor: It was all justifiable? I don’t think so.

Reporter: Among the over one-hundred protestors…

Protestor: US out of Iraq!

Reporter: Was the man behind it all.

Richard Hackler, Protestor: It’s atrocious, it’s genocide.

Reporter: Richard Hackler says the problems in Iraq are because of the war.

Richard Hackler: When the war started, the majority of Americans supported it. Public position has switched to a majority of Americans opposing and wanting a timetable of withdrawal. So clearly organizing like this does have something of an impact.

Reporter: But does this group–a fraction of the population–really mirror public opinion?

Person on the Street #1: I don’t believe we should have gone there in the first place.

Reporter: We walked through downtown Grand Rapids at lunchtime to find out.

Person on the Street #1: But now that we’re there, we can’t just pull out because there will be more adversity that will happen over there.

Person on the Street #2: We should not be there.

Reporter: Should the war end immediately?

Person on the Street #2: Uhhhh…. I don’t know.

Person on the Street #3: It’s a tremendous mess over there because those people’s country over there is in such disarray and I think we have some responsibility to fix that.

Protestor: We weren’t invited to be here to let Cheney see us.

Reporter: But those here say change needs to happen right now.

Protestor: The tip of the iceberg is George W. Bush’s speech last night which gave if anything, not a hopeful message, but a hopeless message.

Reporter: Now this group ACTIVATE is based in Grand Rapids and hopes their work will spread beyond the politicians, for instance, they hope to shed light on alternatives to military recruiting and build a larger community-based organization to voice there opinions right here in the city.

News Reader #2: Alright Nick, thank you.