BLM Discrepancies in Media Coverage

by Kenny Adusa

Black Lives Matter has issued a research paper arguing unfair media coverage, with “five lessons” stemming from its July 17 attempt to take down the Christopher Columbus statue south of Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park.

``We have to be our own media,” BLM said in its first lesson. “The media coverage of the Grant Park action often directly contradicted the on-the-ground reports we collected from protestors.”

CBS reports reviewed online showed that only four people were injured. Fox and NBC omitted this information. Their reports talked more about the police officers there than the protesters.

A second lesson, said BLM, was that “Physical harm done to protestors will always be underreported: “63.9% of survey respondents reported that they were injured -- far more notable than the “four people” some news sources reported as hospitalized.”

BLM’s third point was that CPD used “a range of chemical weapons for which there is little public information:” specifically, pepper spray. This lack of transparency, the activists said, made it hard for people to know how to treat their symptoms. CBS 2 broadcasts showed the use of pepper spray, people in pain and some gasping for air in the heat.

Their fourth point was that being peaceful did not protect them from violence. This contradicts their statement because the protesters were seen trying to take down the statue. Their final point was that “Being peaceful” will not protect protesters from unrestrained violence.

As a depiction of the man who “discovered America,” the statue had drawn fire from people of color and descendants of indigenous people who were already living here in 1492. The statue was later removed and the Grant Park Advisory Council Committee on Art, Monuments and Markers (formed before the protest) hosted a Zoom meeting September 8 to determine whether it would be returned, removed permanently, relocated, recontextualized or replaced. Comments were due September 25.