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Covering the WTO |
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Area elementary school students skipped school and participated in the Students March to the Washington State Convention Center where the World Trade Conference was being held. (Photo/Jim Bryant)
A protester who defied Seattle Police and refused to move from behind police lines was pepper sprayed and hauled away to be arrested. She was one of a dozen who were arrested for blocking the intersection of University Street and 6th Avenue in Seattle. (Photo/Jim Bryant)
A protester waves an upside down American flag, a sign of distress, while demonstrators in the background form a human chain across Pike Street to keep World Trade Conference delegates and dignitaries from attending WTO opening ceremonies held at the Paramount Theater. (Photo/Jim Bryant)
Looking Skyward for peace-- A protester looks skyward while holding a daisy as if she's hoping that peace will come to Seattle in the final day of the WTO meetings. (Photo/Jim Bryant)
tion and on the business section. I keep reading about this being a war between big business and the Non Government Organization that want to save family farmers, the air, the land, the trees and whatever else they could come up with saving.... even turtles. This is just too simple; the arguments are voiced through articles and SoundBits and tossed like grenades at the other side. The complexity of these issues are occasionally express in a well thought out fashion on the editorial pages of the Times and Post -Intelligence, but for most part of it is the sound bite and photos that define the issues for the common man. There are voices of compromise and reason out there trying to make real headway on the issues of world trade and an increasing interdependence between the rich and poor countries, but as long as the media shovels bites and impact at us these voices are drowned out in a sea of noise, It no longer matters what your ideals are as long as you know what buttons to push to turn on the media machine.
Am I old-fashioned to be sensitive to this issue? It's so easy to ignore the real issues while being mesmerized by the sensational. Look at what out TV and newspapers have to offer and it is clear as what excites the common viewer. Do we have to drop at that level to entertain them with that type of news? Do we partially subsidize and encourage this approach through our awards as journalist's for the impact and drama of our work? What do you think?
Drop me a line at phojo@oz.net
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