Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

Analysis:

This story features no comments from ACTIVATE, the group organizing the protest, despite the fact that a spokesperson for the group did an interview. Moreover, while the article does mention that the group went to the home of Representative Ehlers, they do not investigate the group’s claims that Ehlers has been a supporter of the war. Instead they simply state that “they say he’s been a long supporter of the war.” Does this make it clear why the group chose to go to Representative Ehlers’ home?

Story:

GRAND RAPIDS — The fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq conflict brought out protesters around the country today.

Thousands marched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon — just like protests 40 years ago against the Vietnam War.

Not everyone is calling for the end to the war though.

Within the crowd there were a few supporters of President Bush’s call for more troops.

Protests here in West Michigan resulted in a handful of arrests.

Grand Rapids Police say they arrested four people for noise and hindering officers.

The group marched in front of the home of US Representative Vern Ehlers. They say he’s been a long supporter of the war.

They continued on to the East Beltline where they called for peace.

Protests were also held in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo.

Analysis:

This story contained little actual reporting on what protestors were doing, claiming only that they were remembering the more than 3,000 service members killed in Iraq and the four year anniversary of the invasion.

Most of the footage showed demonstrators at standing on the corner of East Beltline and Burton. On the 11:00pm newscast, WOOD TV 8 claimed that “one person was taken into custody for refusing to stop using an amplifying device and while police were making those arrests, someone threw a small explosive device.” The only source cited for these claims was the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD).

Story:

Police arrested four demonstrators arrested four demonstrators for noise violations and hindering police.

The protest was held by the group ACTIVATE that is calling for an end to the Iraq War.

Another rally was held in Kalamazoo’s Bronson Park.

Analysis:

This story deals with a sexual assault case in Holland. After the opening comments from the news readers the reporter frames the story early on by quoting the police who said “what they should’ve done is run. Get away from Saul Salas as fast as they could.” Does making this statement put the blame or the focus on the behavior of the 3 girls? The police repeat this by saying “This is a huge reminder to our parents that we need to reiterate with our children to be safe and act diligently and to say no, run away.” The story then turns attention to the possible whereabouts of the perpetrator, with an invitation for viewers to call police if they know anything. In addition to focusing on the girls behavior this story does not put into context the realities of sexual assault, what the profile of perpetrators are, what the incidents of sexual assault in Holland are, nor information on prevention of sexual assault, resources in the community or where victims can get help.

Story:

Lee Van Ameyde: Michigan State Police want to find this man tonight.

Juliet Dragos: They say he lured 3 teenage girls, on their way to school, into his car and sexually assaulted them. Good evening I’m Juliet Dragos.

And Im Lee Van Ameyde, police said it happened 2 weeks ago when a Holland man asked the girls if they wanted to party, the girls jumped into his car and then drove off.

Juliet Dragos: Police say 33year old Saul Salas gave the teenagers beer and marijuana before sexually assaulting them. WZZM Phil Dawson joins us now from our news room with more.

Reporter: Investigators say they don’t know what the girls were expecting when they got into the mans car instead of continuing on to Holland High School, but police say what they should’ve done is run. Get away from Saul Salas as fast as they could. The 3 girls, 2 age 15 and 1, 16, were almost to Holland High School when police say a 33year old man drove up with an offer they did not refuse.

Police: Asking these 3 young ladies if they wanted to party.

Reporter: Investigators believe that 33year old Saul Salas of Holland drove the girls to a house in Saugatuck, gave them beer and marijuana and sexually assaulted all 3.

Police: This is a huge reminder to our parents that we need to reiterate with our children to be safe and act diligently and to say no, run away

Reporter: Holland police believe 33year old Saul Salas may have tried to lure school girls into his car before, 3 to 5 times since last fall, always with a similar sales pitch.

Police: Basically approaching saying do you want a ride is what some of these young victims would state. That he offered them a ride or asked if they needed to go somewhere.

Reporter: Police believe Salas may now be hiding in Mexico, but they say its also possible he’s cruising around looking for new victims.

Police: I hope not, but we have been stepping up our patrols and watching for the suspect.

Reporter: It took 2 weeks for police to get a warrant for Saul Salas and he may have used the time to leave the area, if not the country. Police would like a phone call from anyone who knows where he is. In the news room, Phil Dawson, WZZM 13 News.

Analysis:

This story is based upon new revelations regarding the FBI’s involvement with domestic spying. The story has a brief comment from the FBI director, three Senators and Attorney General Gonzalez. Do these sources provide a wide range of perspectives. Why are there no non-governmental sources cited? How would that change the way the public read this story?

Story:

Reporter: It’s the way the FBI handled access to phone company records to personal emails even to financial information at banks that has the director of the FBI apologizing.

FBI Director: I am the person responsible, I am the person accountable.

Reporter: An audit from the justice department’s inspector general found the FBI misusing and possibly abusing a provision of the patriot act, the one that lets the FBI without a judges approval, demand customer records from private companies by merely issuing a subpoena of sorts called a national security letter.

Senator Arlen Spector: The inspector general’s report shows a massive misuse by the FBI of the national security letters.

Reporter: The audit says, quote, “We believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of National Security Letters authorities.”

Senator John Sununu: They undermine the publics confidence in our law enforcement in investigation capacity.

Senator Richard Durbin: We have repeatedly on a partisan basis said to this administration, don’t go too far. Don’t violate the privacy of America’s innocent people in an effort to keep us safe.

Reporter: Attorney General Gonzales calls the misuses mistakes that he doesn’t think should jeopardize an essential crime-fighting tool against terrorism.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: There’s no excuse for the mistakes that have been made and we are going to make things right as quickly as possible.

Reporter: Congress claims to call both Gonzales and Mueller to answer what went wrong. Chris Clackum, NBC News.

Analysis:

This story tells viewers the basic fact that Yamaha is closing down 2 regional factories and moving them to Asia, but provides no information about why the company is moving. The only voice heard in this story is that of an employee, but the way that the story is framed puts the focus on what this woman is doing to learn new skills or find another job. In contrast there is no real information on Yamaha such as, whether or not Yamaha has received subsidies from the City of Kentwood in recent years. According to Yamaha’s corporate site, profits are up for the first quarter of 2007. There is one statement at the end of the story that appears to be from a press release by Yamaha, but no specifics are given for the decision to close the factories.

Story:

WOOD TV 8 news reader – From your cash to your jobs, jobs that are now going over seas, another blow for west Michigan’s workforce. Two Yamaha facilities will be shutting down for good in Kentwood, 24hour News 8s, Rachael Ruiz is at the studio with that story.

Reporter – Why Yamaha will close two local facilities, in its musical products division affecting 190 workers. The buildings are expected to close in April and Yamaha says the work done there will move to Asia. Workers say they got word at a 9:00am meeting here at the building on East Paris Ave where musical instruments are made, a similar notification happening at Yamahas warehouse on Breton. But Yamaha not just closing shop in West Michigan, also at a plant in Thomaston, Georgia, 280 people soon without jobs in both states.

Employee: I’m at Davenport, University. I’m going there for Medical Coding.

Reporter – Christina Sowa, Wyoming, also works at Yamaha. She started at the musical products division 7 years ago, but had gone back to school hoping to jumpstart a different career. The news of the closing she says, leaving many in tears. Christina says some of her co-workers have worked nowhere else but Yamaha. Like others she wonders if she could even get a job that paid as well and whether she’ll have the skills it takes.

Employee: …And everything now revolves around computers and technology and if you don’t have any knowledge of that, you know, where do you go and um, who’s going to hire you.

Reporter – Yamaha says they will provide workers with a separation package.

Analysis:

This story is longer than most local TV news stories,so it does provide more information than normal. There are multiple sources used in this story, but is it clear what the expertise is of each person cited? The only group that is cited in terms of helping men overcome internet porn addiction is the Triple X Church, but the story does not give much background on this organization or its methodology other than it is faith based. The story ends by saying you can go to their website to take a quiz, which is a link to another faith-based organization. On the WZZM 13 site there are also links to other resources,most of which are links to the Triple X Church. Only one local resource is provided.

Story:

WZZM 13 Reporter – Well that’s right, there is no doubt that pornography is a controversial issue. Some can use small amounts of porn and will never have a problem with it. Others can quickly become addicted and for those people its ruining lives, relationships and jobs. A word of warning, some of the images might not be suitable for our younger viewers.

Justin Antwerp: “It felt like a high, you know, it felt like, just kind of an uncontrollable urge.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – Pornography is one of those dirty little secrets and people are logging on to look at it more than ever. They’re doing it at home and at work. For some it’s an obsession.

Antwerp: “I felt like I couldn’t, I couldn’t sop myself from just continuing on.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – On the outside, Justin Antwerp appeared to have a great life. He was a minister, a husband and has 2 little girls. No one knew he was addicted to porn. It all started when he looked at a playboy magazine when he was a teenager.

Antwerp: “And you know, then that wouldn’t satisfy me you know, and then I found a whole new world of videos, you know and web cams and you know, all sorts of things.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – Justin is among the growing number of men and women who are dealing with pornography addiction. You used to have to go to your local adult video store to get it, now you can see it all online.

Dr. Paul Clitella (PhD): “Its far easier to obtain than any drug.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – Dr. Paul Critelli sees patients who have all kinds of addictions. He’s not surprised that pornography is becoming more common. He says Americans have a different view of sex compared to people in other countries.

Critelli: “If it weren’t so dirty then we wouldn’t use it to sell everything.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – Pornography specifically on the Internet is a 57billion dollar industry; it’s larger than all professional sports. There are 4.2 million pornographic websites and those who view it are mostly men.

Antwerp: “I never got caught, I became really good at just covering things up.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – Justin was looking at pornography at home and on his computer at work. Looking at it while on the job is becoming a problem we’ve been hearing a lot about lately. There have been a few different high profile cases right here in West Michigan. In 2006 a Kentwood deputy fire chief pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. The images were found on his computer at work. At the Cutlerville Fire Department pornographic images were discovered on a laptop. The computer company that was hired to find those images says these days businesses need to take a proactive approach to the problem.

Richard Reiffer (Chief Technical Officer): “In other words, what could we do to stop that from even happening to begin with. So we implement things like content filtering.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – Psychologists say viewing porn at work is a sign that you have a problem, other questions to ask yourself include frequency, are you logging on more often. Intensity, are the pictures becoming more graphic. Duration, are the sessions on line becoming longer.

Dr. Critelli: “And if those things are increasing wither by jumps or rather steadily, then I would say you certainly have a problem and by the way, I would think those 3 attributes are a good measure of any kind of problem behavior.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – Dr. Critelli believes there are cases where people can view porn and not have a problem. He says some people view it once and a while and have healthy sex lives. He doesn’t think small amounts are morally wrong. Psychologist Tom Karel disagrees.

Tom Karel: “It creates unrealistic expectations and unrealistic ideas as to what normal really looks like.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – In Justin’s case, pornography ruined his relationship with his wife. He says he hit rock bottom when he picked up a female hitchhiker.

Antwerp: “Nothing happened, but had the opportunity risen, I would have cheated on my wife that day and, um, that was a scary place to be.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – A few months later, Justin told his wife about his addiction.

Antwerp: “She was completely devastated and, um, she left the following weekend. The next morning I met with the elders in the church and resigned the position.”

WZZM 13 Reporter – Justin went into therapy and is now involved with the local anti-pornography group called Triple X Church. Justin hopes by coming out about his problem, he could show others that they can overcome their addiction.

Antwerp: “You know, I think by Gods grace, by everybody surrounding me, helping me to lift up, I’ve been able to get a hold on it”

WZZM 13 Reporter – And there is software you can get that blocks adult content on your computer at home. There is also accountability software for porn addicts. It actually notifies the software company when a pornographic site is accessed. For more information and to take a quiz about pornography addiction, go to our website at wzzm13.com.

Analysis:

This story reprinted from the Los Angeles Times frames the debate about sending more US troops to Iraq as a partisan issue. The only sources cited are those of Democratic and Republican Senators who are debating how to respond to Bush’s called for sending more US troops to Iraq. There are no Iraqi perspectives, nor any non-partisan voices. Even the proposed bills they are discussing are only about positions that the Senate would take, but they make it clear this would not affect funding the war. The Press article doesn’t discuss the merits of non-binding resolutions, but doesn’t discuss the funding aspect of the legislation. There was also a considerable amount of the original article omitted in the Press version. Does the omitted text provide readers with more clarity on the topic?

Story:

WASHINGTON — Senate opponents of President Bush’s decision to deploy additional troops in Iraq were unifying Wednesday night behind a single resolution criticizing the plan, increasing the chances that Congress will vote to formally rebuke the White House.

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) announced that he was amending his nonbinding resolution that says the Senate “disagrees” with the buildup, adding clauses opposing any cutoff of funds for troops in the field and calling for written commitments from the Iraqi government to achieve certain goals.

The revised resolution drew the immediate endorsement of Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine). Both had been pushing an alternative resolution that more forcefully opposed the president’s plan.

And Senate Democratic leaders indicated they would back the Warner proposal as well. “I believe we have a better chance now,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said there was “near unanimity” among Democrats, adding that he wanted to make the Warner proposal the basis for debate Monday, when the Senate is expected to consider the issue.

Reid acknowledged that an alternative resolution sponsored by Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), as well as Levin and Snowe, could not garner the GOP support to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a promised Republican filibuster.

Warner’s changes appear designed to win over more Republicans, seven of whom have already expressed support for some legislative critique of the president’s intention to increase troop levels by 21,500 to contain sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.

In an apparent nod to many GOP lawmakers who have fretted publicly about Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, Warner and his cosponsors strengthened language calling for the prime minister to agree to written benchmarks.

These include deploying additional Iraqi security forces to work with U.S. troops, “ensuring equitable distribution” of oil resources and an end to “political intervention” in the tactical decisions of Iraqi commanders. The resolution does not spell out any consequences if the Iraqis fail to comply.

The amended resolution also includes criticism of the complicated command structure in Baghdad that creates two chains of command for Iraqis and Americans, an issue raised by several former military and government officials in the last week.

And it clarifies language in the resolution that some Democrats complained could be read to imply that the Senate might endorse an increase of fewer than 21,500 troops.

Warner, Levin and other lawmakers opposed to the White House plan have been working for more than a week to bridge differences between the Warner proposal and the more toughly worded Biden measure that was passed by the Foreign Relations Committee last week.

Meanwhile, other GOP lawmakers have been trying to persuade colleagues to vote against any resolution.

“We sure as heck have a responsibility to be for some plan,” said Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) who was among a group of Republicans criticizing the resolutions as unproductive earlier Wednesday. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who also was in the group, later acknowledged that he had not read the new Warner proposal.

Other conservative lawmakers have accused Democrats of undermining troop morale in their drive to pass a resolution. And the president has repeatedly said he would not be deterred by congressional opposition.

Drawing on popular dissatisfaction with the Iraqi government, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also has been developing a resolution that would set benchmarks for Maliki to prove his commitment to reaching a political settlement among Iraq’s warring sects.

McCain, who said Wednesday that he plans to finish his resolution by today, had been an outspoken supporter of a troop increase long before the president embraced the idea in a speech Jan. 10.

McCain’s proposal has drawn little enthusiasm from Democrats.

The changes to the Warner resolution include the addition of this clause: “Congress should not take any action that will endanger the United States military forces in the field, including the elimination or reduction of funds for troops in the field.”

Text from the original article ommitted from the Grand Rapids Press version:

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Bush acknowledged the opposition on Capitol Hill to his plan for a troop increase. But he remained firm.

“I say that it’s important to succeed and that failure in Iraq will cause chaos,” Bush said. “My admonition to those who are speaking out is let us back the troops and let us hope for the success” of their mission.

….who have criticized it as a political ploy that would have little effect on the Iraqi government. The measure also does not identify any consequences should Maliki fail to meet his goals.

“This is a very calculated effort by the White House and Republicans to muddy the waters,” said Jim Manley, a Reid spokesman. “They want to do anything to peel away the votes for a resolution.”

Warner — whose original cosponsors included Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — has tried to position his effort in the middle ground between the fierce partisans of both parties.

“We want to see our armed forces succeed in Iraq to help bring about greater stability to that country … so the current elected government can take a firmer and firmer hand on the reins of sovereignty,” Warner said on the Senate floor, casting his resolution as a tool to improve the chances of victory in Iraq.

The original resolution unveiled last week included language deferring to the president’s authority as commander in chief and acknowledging the costs of failure in Iraq, a line often used by Bush and his congressional allies. It also acknowledged the need for additional forces to combat the Sunni insurgency in Al Anbar province.

That helped draw in three more Republican backers — Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gordon Smith of Oregon and Sam Brownback of Kansas — as well as several moderate Democrats.

In the modifications announced Wednesday, Warner, a former Navy secretary and Marine who also chaired the Armed Services Committee, seemed to be trying to entice members of his own party who want to distance themselves from recent proposals to begin withdrawing troops.

(On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, a leading antiwar critic, introduced legislation that would prohibit funding for most military combat operations in Iraq six months after enactment of his bill.)

Last week, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) proposed a similar amendment to Biden’s resolution. And this week, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) circulated the same language that Warner incorporated into his proposal.

Gregg said Wednesday that he appreciated Warner’s action but would not say whether he would support the resolution.

Analysis:

This GR Press story did provide an overview of the comments by the Nobel Laureate, particularly around what the Green Belt Movement. However, the story did not address some of the structural injustices the women of Kenya faced, both in terms of gender injustice and the role that countries like the US play in over use of global resources. There were two people who attended the event that are quoted in the story. Do their comments provide any insight to readers on the content of the lecture? Why wasn’t anyone from the West Michigan Women’s Studies Council cited in the story?

Story:

There are roots in Wangari Maathai’s revolution.

“Anybody can dig a hole and plant a tree,” the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner told a capacity crowd Monday at Fountain Street Church.

That simple act, however, repeated millions of times in Maathai’s native Kenya, helped lift women out of oppression and the country out of a dictatorship.

Maathai, 66, is the founder of the Green Belt Movement, formed 30 years ago. Maathai, the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree, noticed fertile topsoil was running into the rivers because of deforestation.

Later, while preparing for a world conference on women’s issues, she connected the complaints of village women — no clean drinking water, poor soil for crops — with what she saw earlier. “You can get trapped in an environment that can’t sustain you,” she said.

“I don’t know why the image of a tree came to me,” she said. She told the women they had to begin. “They said, ‘We don’t know how to plant trees.’ I said, ‘Neither do I.’ “

They couldn’t grasp the instructions of the professional foresters. “We decided to use common sense, or women’s sense, and forget about the foresters.”

The Green Belt Movement paid women to plant trees. There now are 7,000 tree nurseries in a country that once was deforested to less than 2 percent of its land mass.

Maathai’s next life lesson was about limited resources. Farms, where the trees grew, conflicted with “pastoral communities,” with livestock needing to graze. Resources shrink when people begin to live as if they’re the only ones on the planet. “Very often, people don’t realize their problems are from their own actions,” she said. Sometimes, it is inactivity that hurts. “The national resources within your country are your resources. And the government is the custodian. So if your government is not protecting your resources, you fire them during the elections,” she said.

While that drew loud applause, similar comments landed Maathai in jail and led to her being beaten, years before. When Kenya held its first elections in 2002, however, she was elected to Kenya’s Parliament and appointed assistant minister for the environment.

“It’s amazing she was able to create such a strong movement with so little experience in the area,” said Kristen Canter, 21, a Kalamazoo native and a senior at Aquinas College who had never heard of Maathai. “Sustainability interests me. I studied in France, and the one thing I do now is take my own bags to Meijer.”

For Judy Buchman, who staffs the Wellhouse Homeless Shelter, Maathai was remarkable for connecting the women’s plight with the deforestation. “Sometimes, we don’t see what’s right there before us,” Buchman said.

Analysis:

This story is based upon a media release sent out by a newly formed group in Grand Rapids, Black Elected Officials. From the information provided in the channel 8 story do you think viewers understand what the causes of the violence are and what this group plans to do about it? There is a summary of what the group plans on doing and it doesmention that a website is coming. What about the language that is used in framing this story? Half way through the story the reporter says “Vaughn realizes the winter months have chilled the summer’s flight on violence, examples seen in our July series highlighting the problem. One night, picked at random, that saw a stabbing, a shooting, a family birthday party turned brawl with knives.” The reporter doesn’t clarify what the July series that they did was about other than “random violence.” The story finishes with comments from the GR Police Department, but why weren’t other community-based violence prevention groups cited?

Story:

WOOD TV newsreader – They’re in it for the long hall. A group calling themselves Black Elected Officials, sent out a message today saying violence on Grand Rapids South East side is out of control. Now the group is launching an attack of its own. Brad Edwards is live in the news room, he spoke with one of the leaders today, Brad.

Reporter – Sick and tired of being sick and tired of singing the song of too much violence? A loose alliance now of leaders vows to fight the fight for the long hall citing staggering stats like 33 shootings on the South East side in 3 months last year. Now they say they’re launching a war on apathy. Christopher James Vaughn is one of the leaders signed on to the initiative in the fight, he says, for the long run.

James Vaughn – “we got to reach out to help them and we got ot solve the problem. Were not going to win on the system solving this problem. We got to get out there and roll up our sleeves and we gonna help solve this problem.”

Unidentified person – “But you realize you’re not going to solve anything by a press release?”

James Vaughn – “No, now a press release is to get everybody aware of what’s going on…”

Reporter – Vaughn realizes the winter months have chilled the summer’s flight on violence, examples seen in our July series highlighting the problem. One night, picked at random, that saw a stabbing, a shooting, a family birthday party turned brawl with knives. The biggest challenge, says Vaughn, is apathy. Kids who just don’t care.

James Vaughn – “…when youre looking at eyes and looking at face you realize that there is no hope and no purpose and no direction. They don’t, you know, tomorrow, they don’t care if tomorrow don’t come…”

Reporter – They’ve rallied community agencies in hopes of connecting troubled kids with the right help. They’re setting up a website, a phone line, working with ministers and parents. One example, getting the undereducated the needed training at places like M-TEC career development, education of course a key. Really you’ve heard it before but now they say…

James Vaughn – “yeah this is, we just said enough is enough. You know when you get sick and tired of being sick and tired of seeing the same thing happen over and over again…”

Reporter – We spoke with a lieutenant at the Grand Rapids Police Department, he says they support any effort to get more involvement. The biggest battle, the commissioner says, is making violence unacceptable, no longer tolerable in the community. Reporting live in the news room, Brad Edwards, 24 hour News 8.

Analysis:

This story relies heavily on celebrity voices, citing 4 Hollywood actors. One US Congressman is quoted and one Iraq War Veteran who opposes the war in Iraq. The story also cites a verteran who is for the war near the end of the article. Even though it is mentioned that the national group United for Peace and Justice was the main organizing body for the march, no one from that organization was sourced in the story. The story also does not provide any real reasons why people are opposed to the US war in Iraq, nor that recent polling shows about 70% of the American public wants the war to end. The story appeared on the front page of the GR Press, but it wasn’t the lead story and the Press did not cite local efforts tied to the march in DC.

Story:

WASHINGTON // Convinced this is their moment, tens of thousands marched Saturday in an anti-war demonstration linking military families, ordinary people and an icon of the Vietnam protest movement in a spirited call to get out of Iraq.

Celebrities, a half-dozen lawmakers and protesters from distant states rallied in the capital under a sunny sky, seizing an opportunity to press their cause with a Congress restive on the war and a country that has turned against the conflict.

Marching with them was Jane Fonda, in what she said was her first anti-war demonstration in 34 years.

“Silence is no longer an option,” Fonda said to cheers from the stage on the National Mall. The actress once derided as “Hanoi Jane” by conservatives for her stance on Vietnam said she had held back from activism so as not to be a distraction for the Iraq anti-war movement, but needed to speak out now.

The rally on the Mall unfolded peacefully, although about 300 protesters tried to rush the Capitol, running up the grassy lawn to the front of the building. Police on motorcycles tried to stop them, scuffling with some and barricading entrances.

Protesters chanted “Our Congress” as their numbers grew and police faced off against them. Demonstrators later joined the masses marching from the Mall, around Capitol Hill and back.

About 50 demonstrators blocked a street near the Capitol for about 30 minutes, but they were dispersed without arrests.

United for Peace and Justice, a coalition group sponsoring the protest, had hoped 100,000 would come. They claimed even more afterward, but police, who no longer give official estimates, said privately the crowd was smaller than 100,000.

At the rally, 12-year-old Moriah Arnold stood on her toes to reach the microphone and tell the crowd: “Now we know our leaders either lied to us or hid the truth. Because of our actions, the rest of the world sees us as a bully and a liar.”

The sixth-grader from Harvard, Mass., organized a petition drive at her school against the war that has killed more than 3,000 U.S. service-members, including seven whose deaths were reported Saturday.

More Hollywood celebrities showed up at the demonstration than buttoned-down Washington typically sees in a month.

Actor Sean Penn said lawmakers will pay a price in the 2008 elections if they do not take firmer action than to pass a nonbinding resolution against the war, the course Congress is now taking.

“If they don’t stand up and make a resolution as binding as the death toll, we’re not going to be behind those politicians,” he said. Actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins also spoke.

Fonda was a lightning rod in the Vietnam era for her outspoken opposition to that war and her advocacy from Hanoi at the height of that conflict. Sensitive to the old wounds, she made it a point to thank the active-duty service-members, veterans and Gold Star mothers who attended the rally.

She drew parallels to the Vietnam War, citing “blindness to realities on the ground, hubris … thoughtlessness in our approach to rebuilding a country we’ve destroyed.” But she noted that this time, veterans, soldiers and their families increasingly and vocally are against the Iraq war.

The House Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. John Conyers, threatened to use congressional spending power to try to stop the war. “George Bush has a habit of firing military leaders who tell him the Iraq war is failing,” he said, looking out at the masses. “He can’t fire you.” Referring to Congress, the Michigan Democrat added: “He can’t fire us.

“The founders of our country gave our Congress the power of the purse because they envisioned a scenario exactly like we find ourselves in today. Now only is it in our power, it is our obligation to stop Bush.”

On the stage rested a coffin covered with a U.S. flag and a pair of military boots, symbolizing American war dead. On the Mall stood a large bin filled with tags bearing the names of Iraqis who have died.

A small contingent of active-duty service members attended the rally, wearing civilian clothes because military rules forbid them from protesting in uniform.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Tassi McKee, 26, an intelligence specialist at Fort Meade, Md., said she joined the Air Force because of patriotism, travel and money for college. “After we went to Iraq, I began to see through the lies,” she said.

In the crowd, signs recalled the November elections that defeated the Republican congressional majority in part because of President Bush’s Iraq policy. “I voted for peace,” one said.

“I’ve just gotten tired of seeing widows, tired of seeing dead Marines,” said Vincent DiMezza, 32, wearing a dress Marine uniform from his years as a sergeant. A Marine aircraft mechanic from 1997 to 2002, he did not serve in Iraq or Afghanistan.

About 40 people staged a counter-protest, including Army Cpl. Joshua Sparling, 25, who lost his leg to a bomb in Iraq.

He said the anti-war protesters, especially those who are veterans or who are on active duty, “need to remember the sacrifice we have made and what our fallen comrades would say if they are alive.”

Bush reaffirmed his commitment to his planned troop increase in a phone conversation Saturday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The president was in Washington for the weekend. He is often is out of town during big protest days.

“He understands that Americans want to see a conclusion to the war in Iraq and the new strategy is designed to do just that,” said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

Protest organizers said the crowd included people who came on 300 buses from 40 states.