I have personally experienced a different but very related corporate media
censorship of a political demonstration.

In August, 1997 I attended a very large demonstration held outside the 70th
police precinct in Brooklyn, New York.  This demonstration was held after the
now famous incident in which Abner Louima, a Haitian resident of Brooklyn was
beaten and sexually tortured inside the police precinct by a number of members
of the New York City police department.

The crowd of thousands at this demonstration consisted of many different
people including black, white, Latino, Asians, Arabs, religious Jews,
Christians and others. The ages of those  represented at the demonstration
ranged from the very young such as small children with their parents to groups
of elderly people.

When corporate media giant Time Warner's NY One 24 hour news channel covered
the demonstration throughout the day the cameras only showed one group of
people repeatedly behind the channels' news reporter and as importantly
excluded everyone else.  That group of people were angry young African
American males exclusively. The demonstrators who participated represented a
wide cross section of New York's residents but only one group was chosen to be
shown in the media by the news producers and their news actors. Just consider
the message this deliberate attempt at propagandizing the news report of this
story delivered to the white community and other residents of New York City!
Just consider the blatant attempt at reinforcing stereotypes! This
propagandizing imagery is very powerful when used by the corporate media to
divide and conquer would be groups of outraged residents and to help maintain
the artificial divisions that American society has perpetuated and its ruling
classes continue to benefit from.


John Larizza, Brooklyn, New York

"The comfort you have demanded is now mandatory"----- Jello Biafra