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Sunday, November 13, 2016

Media still struggles with the difference between a protest and a riot

My hopes for a media postmortem after the election concluded appear to have been (mostly) dashed. For the third day in a row now I’ve woken up and turned on the news only to see CNN and MSNBC talking heads speaking in earnest tones about the “protests” taking place in response to Tuesday’s victory of President Elect Trump. There are always a few exceptions, but most of the coverage I’m seeing once again takes the same tone we’ve grown used to during the Black Lives Matter riots in Ferguson, Baltimore, New York, Chicago and beyond. The words stand in stark contrast to the scenes playing out on the screen as roadways are blocked, bottles are hurled, fires break out and “peaceful protesters” smash up police vehicles.

This is a riot

californiariot


This is a protest.
Tea Party Rally


This is a riot
portlandriot



This is a protest
Tea Party Rally 2

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