When mainstream media outlets such as CBS forsake the role of watchdog and opt to play lapdog and when they ignore issues of substance and promote dreck such as “Kid Nation,” it’s not difficult to understand why democracy is in disrepair in this nation.
From The Progressive:
CBS Early Show Removes Anti-War Protesters from View in Kansas City
On August 10, the CBS Early Show came to Kansas City, Missouri.
Using Liberty Memorial Park, the Early Show was featuring the country western band Big & Rich, which is famous for “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)� and for leading audiences in the Pledge of Allegiance.
When the local peace community heard that the Early Show was coming to the park, activists hoped to get their message to a national audience.
“I received an e-mail about the event and a flier from the Early Show inviting people to attend,� says Ira Harritt, Kansas City area program coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). “I rsvp’d, saying some people from the AFSC would be there.�
Harritt recruited people to come and carry some AFSC “Cost of War� banners. These are seven feet long and three feet high, and they all give different answers to the question: “One Day of the Iraq War Equals.� (Such as $720 million, or 84 elementary schools, etc.)
“We started assembling the banners in the park,� Harritt says, “and immediately, a CBS staff person said, ‘You can’t be here. You can’t have those here.’ �
Harritt and the other activists challenged her, saying, “This is a public park. We have a right to be here,� he recalls. And the anti-war activists had a lawyer with them who defended their right to be there.
They reached a compromise. The CBS employee, along with security, allowed them to stay in the park so long as they did not get into camera view.
“I promise you the TV cameras will not span this area,� the CBS employee said.
That’s not exactly what the protesters had hoped for.
“I was very disappointed,� says Harritt. “CBS was censoring what messages Kansas Cityans were bringing to the Early Show.�
Harritt says other signs were allowed to be seen on camera.
“One was supporting the Navy,� he says. “One said, ‘Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.’ There were signs for things for sale, and commercial signs.�
Harritt finds that inconsistent and troubling.
“Given that the Iraq War is the most important issue on people’s minds,� he says, “that they wouldn’t allow this opinion to be on the public airwaves means that they want to make sure that the messages don’t conflict with the large multinationals that are profiting from this war.�
CBS wouldn’t even allow Harritt to circulate an anti-war petition where he wanted to in the park, he says. The petition was to defund the war and refund human needs.
“I had been circulating through the crowd of about 1,000 people collecting signatures,� he says, “when this same CBS staffer came by and said, ‘You can’t do that.’ I wasn’t even in camera view. But she reported me to a security officer. He told me I had to leave. A person was signing the petition at that moment. When he finished, the security officer threatened to arrest me if I didn’t move. So I moved.�
Corva Murphy wasn’t so lucky. She got handcuffed. [full text]
Kmareka.com 
>>>But she reported me to a security officer. He told me I had to leave. A person was signing the petition at that moment. When he finished, the security officer threatened to arrest me if I didn’t move. So I moved.�
Sorry about whatever you lost, Hudson. Your point is well taken about getting arrested, but that is a lot to ask of people who need to protect their ability to get jobs, and if they have kids, etc. BTW, if you are Sam Pratt, did you see the post today about the concrete plant? I wonder if you had any experiences like that in Hudson, NY.