User:XiaosongChen/sandbox

Media Coverage
 National Media Coverage  

National Media coverage of the Occupy Wall street Movement (OWS) can be clearly characterized as reactive and confused in nature. Brian Stelter summarized national journalistic coverage as minimal in the first days of the occupation in New York, but picked up soon after amateur video surfaced online showing a police officer using pepper spray on protesters. On several occasions, video of confrontations with the police, often filmed by the protesters, has propelled television coverage. It seems that early clashes between protesters and authorities were good press, but media outlets could still not distill or illustrate the underlying principles that galvanized this movement—frustration associated with Wall Street and the disparity (real or perceived) created by a capitalist system at large. For example, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism indicated that the movement occupied 10 percent of its sample of national news coverage in the week beginning Oct. 9, then steadily represented about 5 percent through early November. Coverage dipped markedly, to just 1 percent of the national news hole, in the week beginning Nov. 6, However, coverage rebounded strongly after evictions in Zuccotti Park began. Finally, others have argued that media bias by networks like Fox News has played a significant role in downplaying the OWS movement. For example, John Carney at CNBC.com. wrote, “Unlike many protest movements, Occupy Wall Street has refused — so far — to issue a manifesto or a list of demands, “This leads many outsiders to wonder whether or not there really is a point to Occupy Wall Street at all”. What is certain is that the movement has garnered national attention and will likely continue to affect the discourse by politicians, pundits and the like.

 International Media Coverage  

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations were probably never going to stay at the level of merely "national" news. As the protests have spread, though, from Occupy Wall Street proper, in New York, to American cities as seemingly far-removed from the immediate Manhattan picture as Boise, Chicago, and Las Vegas, international interest in the story has grown. Stories in the foreign media have proliferated. And there are one or two trends in the coverage that might interest Americans.First, there's a strong tendency in certain national presses to see Occupy Wall Street as part of a global protest trend. Second,Foreign media have also tied Occupy Wall Street to protests in Europe.

China

Xinhua News Agency website in Oct.8, 2011, reported "Occupy Wall Street" reveals Americans' anger over economic injustice: organizers" In Oct.16, 2001 it reported that"Occupy Wall Street protesters, police clash in New York" In Nov.18, 2011 it wrote a report titled " Police in Los Angeles arrest 23 Occupy-Wall Street demonstrators " saying that " The demonstration was largely peaceful, but has caused closures of some major streets during the morning rush hours." " Police arrested 23 anti-Wall Street demonstrators who formed a circle and blocked an intersection in the financial district of downtown Los Angeles, U. S. Thursday morning." Chinadaily in Nov.16.2011 reported that "Police clear Occupy Wall Street protesters"."Police in the US city of New York cleared up Zuccotti Park early Tuesday afterOccupy Wall Street protesters encamped for two months and arrested around 200 protesters forresisting orders."

Japan In Oct.4 2011, NHK reported "Rallies continue on Wall Street" In Oct.5 2011, NHK reported "Support falls for Wall Street protestors"

BBC

BBC in Oct.15,2011 reported "Occupy Wall Street protesters move to Times Square" In Nov.18,2011 BBC reported "Mass arrests at Occupy Wall Street protests" In Nov.19,2011 BBC reported "Occupy Wall Street: The story of the first night"

Al Jazeera's respected media dissection program， The Listening Post characterized media coverage of the Occupy Movement as attempting to mock the protestors as " odd balls, anarchists and hippies, with no clear agenda." Furthmore, the show delves into the media's (perhaps) confused attempt to compare the Occupy Movement to the Arab Spring. However it should be mentioned that many different columnists on the site, rather obvisouly, stake out different viewpoints.

 Social Media Coverage  

During the height of the Occupy Wall Street movement, around 450,000 users had joined the movement’s page on Facebook, while the movement’s number of Twitter followers, retweets and hashtags also soared. Similar to its effects in Egypt in what is termed the Arab Spring, many contend that the proliferated use of social media may have helped mobilize thousands of New Yorkers during the Occupy Wall Street movement. According to the DailyKos, Occupy movements in Los Angeles, Portland, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia rival New York’s Occupy movement in their number of Facebook users and fans. Additionally, The Huffington Post’s Craig Kanalley even believes that success of social media among protestors within the Occupy Wall Street movement helped bolster the movement’s presence with mainstream. More than simply spreading the world, social media and networking sites were also used to plan events across the United States. Many in the Occupy Wall Street movement used the website Meetup.com to plans events and mobilize; however, some, including The Economist highlight large discrepancies between the movement’s online presence and its physical presence. Policymakers and legislators leveraged the power of social media after witnessing its effectiveness for the Occupy Wall Street movement. The New York Stock Exchange organized a so-called social media day on Nov. 4 mere blocks from the nucleus of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York’s Zuccotti Park.