I’m generally a patient person; odd some say, but for the most part generally grounded and even-keel. (My reporters may say different).

Once in a while something comes along that makes me bristle; like, REALLY get hot under the collar. My initial reaction can be to just sound off and snap someone back to reality, but in this case I’ve backed off in favour of a more careful and reasoned approach.

It’s in regards to comments regarding our recent call for public via Metro Live Wire in Edmonton and some of the criticism we’ve taken for recent Occupy articles (Calgary).

Below is the primary portion from Metro Live Wire directed at my colleagues and I after our call for more public engagement on the Occupy movement.

The Calgary example, and my rebuttal, follows:

To Darren Krause,

I am writing in regards to your call out to the public regarding Occupy Edmonton. This is how it looked at 3:00 on your website today:

 3.) Edmonton is still occupied – Protesters are camping out in Edmonton parks in Occupy protests that have stretched across the country and around the world. What we’re looking for: Your take on the protests – and whether or not you know what they’re protesting, and whether you think they know what they’re protesting.

As someone who is close to the movement, spent a great deal of time with those involved, and attended their general assemblies, I can tell you with confidence that this is an organized, informed, intelligent group of people that certainly do know what they are protesting. The information necessary to discover what they are protesting and whether they know it is all freely available on their website.

I will attach an example from their site, along with a link at the end of this email. To suggest that Edmontonians should tell YOU, allegedly a source of news, whether they THINK the protesters know what they’re protesting is sloppy at best, and encouraging disinformation at worst.

You have reporters. Have them investigate and do some reporting themselves. It’s your job to report, not your job to discover that people are uninformed.

Also, I hope that the first sentence implying that Occupy Edmonton is in more than one park is a typo, and not more misinformation reported by your magazine.

Please see below for an example of a clear description of the protest by the protesters. You can also find minutes from all their meetings on their website. It’s all completely transparent, easy to find, and well organized.

-Shawn Birss

 For the record, information on the Occupy Edmonton movement can be found here: Occupy Edmonton

In the Edmonton Metro Live Wire case, we were merely trying to gauge public sentiment and understanding of the Occupy issue.

Our recent experience in Calgary – upon further investigation, comparing two separate Occupy camps in the same city, our reporter was approached and criticized by Occupy members who mistakenly believed we were their shill, their media megaphone for change.

“We thought you were the good paper,” one suggested to my reporter.

It’s all in response to this: Occupy protest delays city maintenance

That’s right. We just explored a different angle to the Occupy situation in our city and for it we get skewered.

So, here’s my response:

As media it’s our responsibility to the public to provide as much information about your protest, while maintaining balance and exploring various different aspects to the situation in both cities.

We were the first to report the cooperative efforts of Occupiers in Calgary on St. Patrick’s Island, and we were among the first to report about the protest and what it was about in both Alberta cities.

We did our job. We reported. We’ve done several stories in both cities, exploring much of what you stand for. We’ve covered it in all Metro Canada cities – extensively.

Most of it’s been quite ‘Occupy-friendly’ so-to-speak.

But I think it’s important for the public to know what we’ve been up against in our search for information. We’ve experienced (but are not limited to) the following (in Alberta):

- Claims of a ‘leaderless’ society where no one person speaks for all
- Various thoughts on what the ‘Occupy’ movement means to them (therefore what does it ACTUALLY mean to the group)
- A level of confusion over what’s actually being said by their respective groups in the media, balanced against their complaints over coverage.

… among others. How do we expect to get any semblance of legitimate information if we’re facing this kind of uncertainty?

Our reporter was disparaged while on his search for more information: we wanted to compare the two Occupy camps in Calgary so we could help Calgarians differentiate between their origins, encampments, reasons for protesting. YES – we were trying to do our jobs.

Still. We are no shill. We don’t tell  you how to protest, don’t tell us how to report it.

I can admit the mistake of implying Occupy Edmonton protesters were in more than one city park. I’ll fix the website.

But I get all worked up when a group that supposedly stands for egalitarianism, and one that likely stands for freedom of expression and freedom of speech given the nature of their protest – and I find it hard to accept that they feel inclined to dictate to us the very information they expect to see in the pages of our newspaper.

That’s the epitome of oppression. That’s attempting to sway the message.  That’s a strange disguise for the corruption and greed they choose to protest against.

I believe all media outlets: print, radio and television in both cities are doing their best to try and deliver to its readers, listeners and viewers timely and accurate coverage of the Occupy movements – from ALL perspectives. 

I would even say many of us empathize (being in the 99%) with the cause and feel strangely compelled to cover it, hoping on some level it affects even an ounce of change.

But I feel equally comfortable saying we (as media) cannot and will not buckle to the demands of specific media coverage. We can accept the trashy remarks. We can accept the criticisms. We can accept that others’ views are different from ours. It’s a necessity of our job as conscientious observers and reporters. In fact, we encourage criticism as it helps us explore an evolving issue in greater depth.

What’s unfortunate is, while the Occupy movement is quick to level harsh criticism against governments, banks and corporations – and our news reporters, it’s very clear they are incapable of accepting any sort of reasonable commentary and criticism of their protest.

 
Your comments (and criticisms) are more than welcome.

 

D..