Jamey Tucker

Beside the Point

Archives

  • July 2018
  • June 2014
  • September 2012
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005

Blogroll

  • My Podcast
  • The Tech Guy
  • What the Tech

Powered by Genesis

If A Tree Falls in the Forest Does It Make A Sound?

August 2, 2005 by jameyt

Yes…and depending on the political interest, the media will cover it.

Mike has an excellent post today on a protest against TennCare cuts. It was one of those protests that drew only a handful of people, yet the tv stations send a crew and cover it.

Mike asks if the media makes an effort to cover protests even if only a few people are protesting. The answer of course, is yes.

Several years ago when I was still pounding the pavement for one of the local stations I was assigned a story on a war protest in downtown Memphis. I got there, it was raining slightly and my photographer and I COULDN’T FIND THE PROTESTERS!

They weren’t where they were supposed to be, or at least they hadn’t shown up on time. We called the station to make sure the assignment desk had read the press release correctly. While we were sitting in the mobile newsroom, a woman knocked on my window and said “if you’re here to cover the protest we’ll get ready”.

The made-for-tv-protesters, all 4 of them, grabbed their home-made signs and started shouting about President Bush and the war.

The story ran. I don’t remember but I may have done a live-shot out there. It was probably first block. The disappointing part of the story? A few days later there was a rather large “Support our Military” rally that attracted several hundred people and was well organized. The rally received about the same amount of time as the “war protest”.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Misc.

Comments

  1. Candy says

    August 2, 2005 at 2:27 pm

    The fact remains that you covered both sides of the story. That’s fair. I expect it was easy to see in the video how hundreds compare to a handful of protestors. Let the viewer make up his/her own mind.

  2. Weaver says

    August 5, 2005 at 12:58 am

    Off Topic, but while I was on vacation I saw a t-shirt that said something like,

    ‘If a man says something in the forest and no one is there to hear him, Is he still wrong?’

    This was a woman’s store…My wife says yes.

Blogroll

  • My Podcast
  • The Tech Guy
  • What the Tech