RNC. On the ground
From the Media Channel listserv
The signs are up on my block — no parking, no standing, no stopping, (no breathing?) as a police enforced lockdown of New York begins to roll out. Madison Square Garden, is like a crime scene already, flanked by cops galore, trailers and TV satellite trucks as the “load-in” for the RNC intensifies. It is “surrounded” by armed men, shades of Najav.
YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN . . . . .
The New York Post pushed its fog and fear machine into higher gear, reporting without any evidence:
“A number of extremists with ties to the 1970s radical Weather Underground have recently been released from prison and are in New York preparing to wreak havoc during the Republican National Convention.
And the Post spews much more “demonstrators-are-terrorists” right wing propaganda throughout their “news reporting.” These folks would be right at home in Germany in the 30’s, yes they would.
Alternet is out with one of several guides to the cultural and political activities in the convention period. MediaChannel will have an unofficial media guide available for the thousands of journalist who will outnumber the delegates 5-1.
Medics are in from California to tend to the beaten while hundreds of video cameras are being mobilized to record the expected confrontations. Confrontations feel inevitable . . . . the only question is — what will their political effect be. One senses that the GOP welcomes chaos and images of conflict which they plan to use . . . .
Or major demonstrations with massive brutal overreaction by NYPD could also blow up in the Republican’s faces.
Media Channel Unofficial Guide to RNC
MediaChannel.org and Media for Democracy present the “Unofficial Media Guide” – a resource for journalists seeking a detour from the tightly scripted rhetoric at Madison Square Garden. The Media Guide list hundreds of sources and experts available to reporters seeking to cover events occurring throughout New York’s five boroughs. Inside these pages, you’ll find:
* Dozens of New York experts, ready to talk on the record.
* Coordinates for the protest groups active citywide.
* The lowdown on political bloggers and alternative news outlets.
* The big media backstory.
* Ten New York ways to escape the spin