-- Critical Media Literacy
in Times of War

Comparing Reports

Did the mainstream news report fairly on the number of protesters at the anti-war rallies in Washington DC in September 2001 and April 2002?

CNN reported only their own figures, estimates vastly less than numbers cited by either police or protest organizers:
September 29, 2001	"Anti-war rallies in Washington, New York" "...hundreds of marchers called on the United States to reject a violent response to the September 11 terrorist attacks."
April 21, 2002	"More protests expected on Washington Streets" "...thousands of people protested peacefully..."
CounterPunch, a bi-weekly progressive, reported either organizer estimates or even larger estimates provided by attendees of the size of the April 20th protest.
April 21, 2002	"Today I Was a Palestine" Shaik Ubaid "Today I was a Palestinian. One of more than 100,000 that marched down the Pennsylvania Avenue..."
May 13, 2002	"200,000 Protest the 'War Without End': 'We are All Palestinians today" Mike Leon "Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey - smiling and joking with passersby in a park off Pennsylvania Avenue - told this writer at approximately 3:30 P.M. that the crowd was well in excess of 100,000. Other sources said the crowd exceeded 250,000."
The New York Times also ignored or minimized police and organizer estimates for both protests.
Sept. 30, 2001	"Protesters in Washington Urge Peace with Terrorists" ( p. B2) Early edition: "a few hundred" Final Edition: "Thousands of protesters"
April 21, 2002	"MIDEAST TURMOIL: THE DEMONSTRATORS; Thousands March in Washington in Support of Palestinians," Stephen Labaton (Foreign Desk) (Page 13) "Tens of thousands of Arab-Americans blended with demonstrators against the military campaign in Afghanistan and those criticizing international financial institutions during protests today in Washington..."