TCS: Tech Central Station - Doth Protest Too Much?

A sensible view of the WTO protesters. While this author may be a conservative, his perspective bears careful review. The media focuses on protestors, perhaps thinking this provides a 'balanced' view. It may be that the protestors are rabble with a worldview that suggests that whatever is happening in world trade is wrong.

Here's a keen observation from Kevin Hassett:
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"The activities of the protestors are so far away from where the real action is that television viewers back in the states know more about the protestors than we participants in the conference do.

Which raises an important question. Why does the news media feel compelled to give air time to the protestors who, aside from forcing conference organizers to erect fences, have had absolutely no effect on the goings on? While there has been death and violence in the streets, there has been more death and violence in the streets of New York presumably, and with equal effect on world trade.

Perhaps the best answer is that the media feels compelled by a desire for "balance" to "present all sides." Balance apparently means that a journalist should report on the activities of people who think the WTO is a good idea and also on the activities of those who think it is part of an alien plot to destroy the world. The alien plot characterization of the views of these folks is only a slight exaggeration. The protestors at the barricades are so downright weird that Mexican farmers who showed up to protest with them have been leaving in droves, purportedly because they are so creeped out by the violence.

This scenario vividly captures how destructive media choices can be. The problem in this case being that a few groups of professional rabble rousers with no material things to say get more media play than legitimate organizations such as the AFL-CIO that appear at these meetings with strong dissenting opinions. The coverage choice denies the audience back home of any legitimate information about the debate, and makes life easier on reporters. One might have to work hard to understand the issues if one wanted to present the opposing views voiced by reasonable people in the conference halls. A suicide at the barricades, on the other hand, is easy copy."