Media Monitor: The RNC roundup

Which came first: “anarchists” or police crackdown? In a piece made up mostly of quotes from the Star Tribune, Tom Dennis of the Grand Forks Herald writes in praise of RNC police, stating that the “anarchists came first, and their actions prompted the massive show of force that police used.” He opines that “protests must turn peaceful again” — like the 95 percent of demonstrators I saw at the RNC? –and that, “[o]nce that happens, police will be happy to take down the barricades, swing open the ‘thin blue linet and let the marches proceed.” [via]

Salon gives props to UpTake: Glenn Greenwald at Salon offered a critique of mainstream journalists at a press conference a week ago about the arrests of reporters at the RNC: “Interestingly, all of the standard journalists asked very police-sympathetic questions (“how much property damage was done? were all the criminals part of this same RNC Welcoming Group? How many police officers were injured (answer: none)), while all of the independent journalists — such as those from the superb, intrepid site, The Uptake — asked challenging and skeptical (i.e., real) questions.”

Yow: I’m late getting to it, but here’s some terrifying footage Democracy Now! producer Nicole Salazar shot last week just before she was arrested by police at the RNC. Amid swinging billy clubs, we hear her shout, “Press! Press!” followed by anguished screams, apparently as the clubs connect. (Here‘s WCCO’s Tom Aviles arrested by a surly, but thankfully more restrained, cop.)

Am I missing something? Fox 9 ran with this headline last Tuesday: “4,000 Protesters trying to break down RNC fence after Rage Against the Machine concert.” But I see no video to back it up. I’ve reviewed my own footage from the same evening and found a protester who ran and kicked the fence — once — before other demonstrators calmed him down. And exactly what did the Star Tribune’s headline after the Day One protests mean? “Mass show of peaceful dissent soon makes a violent descent.”