ALL THE RAGE THAT’S
FIT TO PRINT
Showing where each news source focused its attention, Reuters and MTV.com gave radically different views of the Rage Against The Machine show held in the parking lot outside Los Angeles' Staples Center. While President Clinton warmed the audience inside the Staples Center with anecdotes about the dedication and compassion of Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore, Rage raged and rubber bullets flew.
The discrepancy in the two stories posted early this morning on the Web is apparent just via the headlines: from Reuters, "L.A. Police Break Up Rage Concert"; from MTV.com, "Rage Against The Machine Kicks Hard Outside Democratic National Convention."
The opening paragraphs—or "leads," as our friendly journalistas would call them—set the table for the disparate tales. Reuters' story, penned by Adam Entous, begins like this: "Police Monday fired pepper spray and rubber bullets and moved in on horseback to clear a crowd of 9,000 people after a protest on the margins of a free rock concert turned violent outside the Democratic National Convention."
The MTV story, penned by Michael Alex, kicks off like this: "It looked like a live music video… police helicopters and airplanes circling overhead, rooftops lined with television cameras and law enforcement bearing binoculars, a parade of protestors* [see note below], the disenfranchised, and flat out freaks marching in with floats, banners, and costumes… all amidst a mob of fans in the middle of a parking lot ready to rock with Rage Against The Machine."
[*Actually, the correct spelling would be protesters, but for some reason MTV.com prefers to misspell it. In the spirit of the journalistic integrity hitsdailydouble is built upon, we have chosen to quote MTV.com verbatim, warts and all. –Ed.]
Ultimately, the Reuters story is about a police clash with a group of about 40 or so black-clad anarchists who attacked police "with concrete blocks, water bottles and parking signs," as the Reuters story said, "during an otherwise festive concert featuring the punk rock band Rage Against The Machine." It certainly has to be the first time Rage Against The Machine and the words "otherwise festive" have appeared in the same sentence.
According to Reuters, the police reacted by firing rubber bullets (or what the police described as "bean bags") and spraying pepper spray. "We believe our response was strategic, measured and appropriate to the situation," said police Cmdr. Dave Kalish. Some witnesses and a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California disagreed.
Characterizing the LAPD's reaction as "incredibly poor judgment," ACLU spokesman Dan Tokaji said, "Had police cooperated with rally organizers, the night could have ended calmly and smoothly."
The Reuters story ends with a mention of the three dozen people treated for injuries by paramedics and the 10 arrests (bringing the convention total to 38).
For those who want the prettier picture, one that might be delivered in dulcet tones and through the bedroom eyes of Serena Altschul, the MTV.com story is where it's at.
Describing the crowd as "what democracy looks like," the MTV story pointed to the "people protesting over at least 50 different issues, [including] opponents of nuclear arms, supporters of the Zapatistas, and advocates of Ralph Nader's candidacy, along with folks concerned with the death penalty, nuclear waste, irradiated food, abortion rights, Big Oil, and a scattering of anarchists, American Atheists, and some folks in Star Trek costumes." In other words, a typical Rage crowd.
The MTV version of the events portrays the crowd as into the "super high-energy show" and taking the time to strike up political discussions during the nine-song RATM set.
"Throughout the audience, many of the protestors* [see note above] and activists for different causes could be heard explaining their activities to each other in between songs. It was noticeably not a group of people ignoring the politics of an event a band had come to support," writes Alex.
The final paragraph really tells the story, though: "There were no incidents that we saw, no confrontations with police, no brawls. The audience came, protested, rocked, and peaceably went on with their business. Democracy looked and sounded just fine."
Nowhere in the MTV story is there a mention of rubber bullets, and nowhere in the Reuters story is there a mention of how sexy Zach De La Rocha is.
But it's not to say that either news source is lying or covering up the truth. It's just plain to see that the writer for MTV.com was looking at the stage and the writer for Reuters was watching the action at the edge of the crowd.
