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The independent student media site of West Linn High School

wlhsNOW

The independent student media site of West Linn High School

wlhsNOW

Occupy Movement ignored by mainstream media after a month of strong protest

Occupy+Movement+ignored+by+mainstream+media+after+a+month+of+strong+protest

Log on to any news website. Turn on any news channel. Read any newspaper. Chances are that your favorite news source is underreporting one crucial story: the Occupy Movement.

The Occupy Movement began on Sept. 17 when an organized group of people, mostly young progressives, went to Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street, to camp out. With tents, signs and chants ready, they were occupying the city in protest of corporate welfare and wealth inequality. This has been continuing for the past few weeks, with more people joining the protest every day.

Put yourself in the position of an American, angry about and affected by today’s political and financial climate. Maybe you’ve lost your job. Maybe your wages are going down. Maybe you’re doing just fine financially, but you resent the fact that while banks are being bailed out and the wealthiest one percent of Americans is getting giant tax cuts, the other 99 percent continue to struggle finding job security and benefits they deserve.

If this sounds like you, you fit in the Occupy Movement.

Law enforcement hasn’t responded to the movement well, at least not on Wall Street. On the weekend of Sept. 24, two women protesting in Lower Manhattan – doing nothing violent, simply marching with the other protesters – were pepper-sprayed by police officers. Several people have been arrested throughout the last couple weeks for simply blocking the flow of traffic during their march.

It has gotten worse since. On Oct. 14, video was released of a police motorcycle running over a man’s leg during the protest. The man had to kick the bike off, and immediately afterward, he was arrested. The man wasn’t even there as a protester – he’s a lawyer, and was there to observe.

Because of this response, there has been a wave of outrage among middle-class Americans, as well as a wave of solidarity. This is part of the reason why the Occupy Movement has found its way beyond Wall Street. There are now Occupy rallies in Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, and even Portland, to name a few. Union members, students, and even some affluent Americans are rallying to protest what Michael Moore, progressive activist and filmmaker, has called “kleptomania” on the part of the country’s richest citizens, as well as the police brutality experienced by the protesters and observers of the movement.

If this movement is so universal among all classes of Americans, why is the media paying so little attention to it? Your guess is as good as mine.

For example, look at the headlines on the major news websites on Oct. 4, about two weeks after the protests began and one week after the accounts of police brutality were publicized. ABC’s top story was Bank of America’s website crashing. The New York Times and Huffington Post talk about the new iPhone. Fox News has a large headline about Attorney General Eric Holder. Washington Post, NPR, BBC News, and MSNBC all focused on Governor Chris Christie announcing he will not run for president – a fact that has been known for months, if not years.

Only one major news website had any front-page news about Occupy: CBS News, whose main story that day was about the spread of the movement across the nation.

The movement is so widespread, but there is still a media blackout. It seems as if every day, another city is getting behind the cause. Another rally is organized in Anytown, USA. It’s spreading like wildfire. It’s selling like hotcakes. The message is being heard and said nearly everywhere. It just might be the biggest populist movement America has seen in a decade. It’s bigger than the Tea Party at this point. If that’s the case, where’s the news coverage?

Americans are making their voices heard through the Occupy movement. They are taking to the streets (and the tweets) to speak out against unfairness and highlight the struggle of a declining middle class. In a world where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, these protesters are proactively standing up and saying they will take no more. It is the best thing we can do right now in this political and financial climate. Since ballots are not working to solve these problems, peaceful protest just might have what it takes to make the government, and the bankers it coddles, listen. And the mainstream media isn’t seeing it.

It’s a new day in America, inside and outside of Wall Street. The media needs to wake up and enjoy it with us.

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Elise Brown, Co Editor-in-Chief

Elise Brown, senior, has always felt comfortable standing up and giving her opinion in front of everyone and for the most part, she enjoys it very much.  That is one of the many reasons why she heads the debate team, and also why in June she earned a place in the National Speech and Debate Competition in Indianapolis.

Out of the 250 people entered in the competition, she finished 151st in the country.  Before she earned her rightful place in Nationals, however, she needed to prove herself in Districts and State.

Her 10 minute long speech about socialism and its benefits took first and second in Districts and State, respectively.

“In the National competition the judges didn’t appreciate politics or controversy as much as they did in Districts and State,” Brown said.  This was confirmed from one of the judges she conversed with in order to find out what she could do better.

Brown’s interest in current events started in the eighth grade.  She then did the Amplifier, the high school newspaper to help communicate her ideas about the world with her fellow peers, she also did the debate team to better understand the problems throughout the world and learn how to solve them somewhat.

“Debate involves knowing what is going on in the world,”  Brown said.

This year for upcoming competitions, she has a speech in the works that she feels will top her last one.  This year’s speech is about interdependence inspired by the “you didn’t build that debate,” caused when President Barack Obama told business people that they did not create their businesses on their own.

Brown’s passion for debate has influenced what college she will go to, what she will study in college, and what she wants to do in her life.  Brown’s goal is to graduate high school and then travel to Massachusetts and attend Wellesley College, a very well known and prestigious college, where Brown hopes to study political science.

To achieve this goal she has taken part in a number of rigorous courses and activities such as Speech and Debate, AP Government, AP Economics, Honors Law, AP English and journalism.  Once Brown achieves her education goals, her next goal is to become a political commentator.

“I want to change people’s minds,”  Brown said.  Brown has chosen the path to become a political commentator because she believes political power lies with the media.

Brown has worked very hard throughout high school and continues to work hard through her senior year.  She has taken many challenging courses to achieve her goal of going to Wellesley, and will need to continue down the very rigorous path to success to accomplish her goals.

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Occupy Movement ignored by mainstream media after a month of strong protest