Thousands of people in the UK and US united in their rejection
of mainstream media in a mass protest. Protesters targeted the headquarters of
media giants like Fox News, the BBC and NBS, decrying their narrow coverage of
world affairs.
The March Against Mainstream
Media (MAMM) organized the international protest via social media and challenged
the established media to cover it.
In a statement posted on the
MAMM website, the organization said big media outlets had two options: “report on the fact that thousands of people are currently
protesting outside of their buildings because they are keeping important news
from the public’s eyes,” or ignore them.
Across America people turned out brandishing banners,
condemning established news channels.
“Boycott the
media!” one banner read in High Point California, while in Kansas city
supporters of the movement wearing Anonymous masks delivered the message “America deserves the truth!”
A recurrent theme that cropped up a number of times in the US
protests was the media’s coverage of the stricken nuclear plants in Fukushima
Japan that were damaged in the 2010 earthquake-triggered tsunami.
"The radiation
from that plant is going to reach us and affect us, not just in California but
worldwide. How is it going to affect us, how is it going to affect our water,
our food supply, and our way of life?" said one protester to KMPH Fox 24.
Meanwhile in London, supporters of the anti-establishment
movement gathered outside the offices of the BBC in a sit-in-style protest.
Jet Barnett, one of the organizers of MAMM spoke to RT and
said the march was a sign that people were beginning to look for their news in
alternative media.
“We want
mainstream media to listen, to let them know that the people are finally coming
together and influence them to make a change,” said Barnett to RT, adding
that the organization is fighting to restore journalist integrity.
Confidence in US mainstream media has been declining sharply
over the past couple of years with only 44 percent of Americans trusting mass
media, according to a Gallup poll in September. The figures for this year are a
slight improvement on 2012 when the survey saw trust in the media fall to a
record low of 40 percent.
However, a large amount of Americans (46 percent) believe
media has become too liberal, compared to only 13 percent who regard mainstream
news coverage as overly conservative.
Gallup’s statistics show the steady decline in media trust in
America from 2005, with Democrats reportedly having the most confidence in
American news outlets.
