The way to go is to create our own media, because we *always* loose with the corporate media. Do you want an example?
There was big hype before the 1st of march about violence, but there was nothing (practically) of the sort. Do you know what the corporate media says now? "Well, those police were really needed, cause there were lots of riots in Germany!". So you see, we ALWAYS LOOSE with the corporate media, ALWAYS. Even if some of the ideas of ours get to the corporate media, they are ALWAYS perverted to suit their needs. Everything I've seen shows only that.


Daniel

The way to go is to create our own media, because we *always* loose with the corporate media. Do you want an example?
There was big hype before the 1st of march about violence, but there was nothing (practically) of the sort. Do you know what the corporate media says now? "Well, those police were really needed, cause there were lots of riots in Germany!". So you see, we ALWAYS LOOSE with the corporate media, ALWAYS. Even if some of the ideas of ours get to the corporate media, they are ALWAYS perverted to suit their needs. Everything I've seen shows only that.


Daniel

I am not an anarchist supporter. I am not an anti-capitalist. I did not attend the May Day protests in London. I do not subscribe to much of the rhetoric surrounding the justification for such mass-rallies.
In fact I own my own home, I drive a new car, I buy groceries in Sainsbury’s. I am a secondary school teacher. An agent for the state? Perhaps.
Until yesterday I had little more than a passing interest in the kind of drama one can expect at such gatherings of the masses. Aside from this morbid fascination in seeing something out of the ordinary on my TV, the whole proceedings held little interest for me.
However, this year I spent the afternoon of May 1st watching the events live on Sky News – corporate media. I watched with the expectation that the protestors would be vilified, their actions reported in the worst possible light and the police shown to be the saviours of society. Sky News made a valiant attempt at fulfilling my expectations, yet they say the camera never lies.

It’s true.

Much of the footage depicted skirmishes between the police and the people, in an effort to demonstrate the violence of the crowd. But that wasn’t what the viewer saw.

I saw large groups of tired, wet, cold people forced to stand outside in the same place for upwards of seven hours. I saw continued police intimidation of these people. I saw pressure applied to people who were doing little more than standing outside in the rain. I saw numerous instances of the police over-stepping the boundary of what constitutes ‘reasonable force’. I saw several people struck and injured as police tried to force 5,000 people into a space big enough for only half that number.
I was shocked. My faith in society shaken to the core. Is humanity dead? Are we living in a police state? What’s going on here? If the protestors are mindless thugs bent on destruction, and the police behaviour is worse, what is left?

But that’s not all.

Along with all of this police provocation, I also saw large groups of people who did not retaliate, despite enormous pressure to do so. I saw restraint in the face of extreme adversity. I saw, in these cold, wet, and tired individuals, strength of belief so strong and unshakeable that they did not have to resort to violence in order to assert themselves.

And all this from a corporate news channel!

What I want to say to all those people who kept their cool against all the odds is: I applaud you. Such strength is the clearest way to demonstrate your beliefs. The point of May Day is not to wreak havoc and destruction, but to stage a peaceful protest, which I am happy to report democracy grants us all the right to.
In addition to which, the average viewer such as myself, was left with the distinct impression that the police were going a little over the top. Overkill if you will. Where were these ‘mindless thugs’ that I had tuned in to watch? What on earth was all the fuss about?

As for me, my faith in humanity is restored and I may well run a class on bias in the media for my A level students. I don’t necessarily agree with the cause that was being fought for on May 1st, but I do believe in our inherent right to peacefully demonstrate.