Indo Piles On The Mayday Hysteria With A Subtle Headline

dublin | summit mobilisations | feature Saturday March 27, 2004 16:58 by Badman

Protestors are going to be "put down" no less!

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Early copies of Saturday's Independent reveal that Ireand's biggest selling daily has compounded the media hysteria that is building up around planned protests for Mayday. The Independent is only the latest paper to join in the frenzy, in the wake of an anonymous smear campaign in the tabloids which sought to link protestors to terrorism and football hooligans.

The Independent headline seems to include a revealing Freudian slip. It reads "Riot troops drafted in to put down EU protestors." So apparently protestors are going to be "put down". I wonder if it will be by lethal injection? Presumably the sensationalising editor meant to write - "put down protests" - but the mistake sums up what sections of the media in cahoots with elements in the Gardai and Government are attempting to do to the right to protest.

All of the media reporting about Mayday so far has concentrated almost exclusively on the "violent" protestors. No evidence is presented of a real risk of violence, nothing beyond a few pictures from an Italian city of "the type of violence that could occur in Dublin". The stories focus on the resources the Gardai are going to need to quell the violence. Barely a mention is made of the reasons that people are protesting. No questions are asked about why the government feels the need for thousands of police to protect itself from protestors.

This type of reporting creates a state of fear. The tabloids build up a picture of protesters as violent thugs, football hooligans and skinheads. They constantly emphasise how stretched the Gardai will be and the need for extraordinary repressive measures against this terror. All of this is presented without any evidence and based on quotes "from a website", but who expects evidence from a tabloid?

The respectable broadsheets weigh in with tales of garda preparedness. They are lighter on the lurid details about violent thugs, but the assumption that the repressive measures are needed is never questioned. We are told how "International police forces are supplying vital intelligence to Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park on the movements of known anarchists and troublemakers." We are told about the sudden appearance of a dedicated force of 1,200 newly trained riot cops with "new riot gear" and "water cannons".

A state of fear is created in the hope that the citizenry will accept the state repression of protests with force. In all of this coverage the organisers have not had a voice at all. No chance to defend themselves in the face of a massive scare story. The corporate media is creating the climate for repression.They are trying to drive people away from protests and creating the climate where the police can smash the protests with force. It's not really that surprising; the corporations who control commercial media would be expected to react like that to those who attempt to stand up to them.

The Independent also report that they are considering erecting a fence around Farmleigh! At least it shows that they are worried. At least somebody is making them worried. The union leaders have bowed to their master and called off their Mayday lest they inconvenience the state. The Trots will be listening to minor pop-stars. These scares are all the more reason to get out on Mayday with the Grassroots.

Related Stories/Background from 'The Real Irish Independent'

Mayday Plans
Demonstrators Challenge Anonymous Smear campaign
What to do about ‘Anarchist Menace’ Corporate Journalists?
Requiring Army Deployment? Was her Editor Drunk Too?
Reclaiming Mayday
Comments on Cancellation of Mayday in London from Collective Members