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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1992)
OPINION Let’s talk about ‘media’ distortions THE FINE PRINT 8Y PAT MAt ACH Here at Fantasyland Uni* varsity, it's become a vogue pastime to blame the evil, capitalist media For the world’s problems. Just ask the "informed” stu dents on campus and they’ll tell you: "The media has totally distorted the whole Rodney King thing." Hut if you actually make time to sift through the facts, it doesn’t take long to discover most of the distortions concern ing the protests and violence at the Federal Building have been perpetrated by the folks who are ranting against the press. Close scrutiny of the claims made by the professional cam pus raliicrs leads to one ration al conclusion: For most of those people, reality is a poskv nui sance that gels in the way of their ideologies. Fantasy: Assistant U S Attor ney Deborah Doaly-Browning hud a press conference where she said she was going to seek five-lo- 10-year sentences for those accused of kicking in windows at the Eugene Federal Building. Reality: In an interview with KVAL-TV that aired May 5. Dealy-Browning was reported as having said a churge of de struction of federal property could lend to a muximum sen tence of 10 yours plus a $2 50,000 fine. In the next breath the reporter attributed Dealy-Browning with saying it was unlikely that anyone in the Eugene incident would receive more than five years. Doaly-Browning then told the interviewer tliat the "govern ment is entitled to seek an up ward departure (from sentenc ing guidelines) and ask the court to give the full 10 years." The operative words here be ing "going to" (which denotes certainty) and "could" (which denotes possibility). Given the heated emotional climate sur rounding the issue, it's under standable how people could have misinterpreted the dis tinction between what she said was possible, and what she said was definitely going to happen. What is not excusable is that for days after both The Kogis Ier-Cuard and the Emerald re ported that the accused would face no more than six to 10 months, or 10 to 16 months, al legedly Responsible and knowl edgeable people, including a University philosophy profes sor. continued to use the ficti tious five-to-10-yuar figures. Who is trying to manipulate whom hero? Fantasy: The media has actu ally sold raw news footage to the FBI in order to help them with their investigation. Reality: None of the local media, either print or broad cast. have sold "raw" news footage to federal authorities. The day after the violence at the Federal Building, the FBI subpoenaed KVAL and KEZI for footage of the incident. In keoping with the stations’ poli cies for any person who asks, the FBI was allowed to viow video footage that had already been broadcast. The subpoena also required copies of tho footage The sta tions complied with the sub poena anti charged the FBI a $25 dubbing fee for making topics of footage that had al ready been broadcast. After being subpoenaed. The Register-Guard allowed the FBI to purchase a copy of the front page photo it had already print ed in the paper. This is In keep ing with the paper's policy of selling, to anyone who asks, prints of any photo the paper has proviously'published. Man aging Kill lor Patrick Yack said the paper has a strict policy of fighting all subpoenas for re porters' notes, negatives, draw ings. etc. Fantasy: Locally, the media ignored the "peaceful” nature of the campus rally that preced ed the assault on the Federal Building. They have also ig nored the decision by law school graduate George Fields to protest the verdict by not participating in the graduation ceremony. Reality: Stories in troth the Emerald anil The Register Guard definitely reported on people doing $27.(MX) worth of damage to the Federal Building. It doesn’t happen that often. For some strange reason, both publications thought it was nows. However, both pupers ulso reported extensively on what was done and said at the cam pus rally that same day. Thu rally was mentioned in the sec ond paragraph of The Register Guartfs story and in the first paragraph of the Emerald's. About iwo-thmis of the local paper’s story was devoted to speakers at the campus rally. It also mentioned the courageous decision by Fields to skip hts graduation ceremony In the kmcruld's article, 17 out of 24 paragraphs were devoted to speakers on campus. Fields' de cision was also reported in the May 13 Issue of the Enwrnifi — the same day a speaker on cam pus said Fields' legitimate pro test was being Ignored by the puper One indication of why those absolutely Inaccurate state ments can be made in good faith is summed up by one speaker When the woman's claim that the media weren't covering these issues was dis puted by someone in the crowd, she responded. "Uh. uh I checked all the channels!" Hmmmm, over heard of READ ING? It's also interesting that these people blame the media for shifting coverage onto the vio lence that has followed the jury's decision. This conve niently allows them to release thorn selves of any persoriul re sponsibility in the matter. Be cause. you know, If they hadn't gone out und kicked the win dows in in the first place, the media wouldn't be reporting on it. would they? Fantasy supreme: The feder al government Is investigating the vandalism in order to perse cute innocent students who just wanted to practice their consti tutional right to protest. Reality: This theory presents just u few problems First of all, if this is an at tempt to intimidate protesters, why hasn't tho FBI arrested all 350 people who wore there rather than just the people they believe broke tho law? Secondly, if tho FBI is invos When the woman’s claim that the media weren’t covering these Issues was disputed by someone In the crowd, she responded, Vh, uh. I checked all the channels!’ Hmmmm. ligating this simply to intimi date protestors and not because it's a federal crime, it would lagicully follow that I can go down to the Fedora! Building tonight and kill in windows just for the hell of it, ami tie cause I'm not protesting any thing. I won't Ixi prosecuted Last of all, if what you're try ing to say is that you can com mit crimes under constitutional protection as long as you're protesting something, dixis that mean 1 can go out and sluxit George flush tomorrow without being held responsible because I was only practicing my Grxl given right to protest his elitist policies? Justice would best tie served if the judge sentencing these students remembers that they were expressing a rage we were all feeling But to suggest they should not be held accountable for their action is just plain fan tasy. All of the uforemonlionoil distorted claims of media dis tortion keep pointing mu bock to a prophot It; lino from a 1U80 Uire Straits song, "When you point your fmgors causo your plan foil through, you got throo more fingers pointing hack at you." /'at Malutjl is managing edi tor of ihv Knmrnld. 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