OCCUPY WALL STREET The Narratives of the OWS

OCCUPY WALL STREET The Narratives of the OWS Movement in the NY Times

OCCUPATION OF ZUCCOTTI PARK • September 17, 2011 occupation sparked national protest movement • Sparked by campaign in Adbusters • *Excerpt* • Inspired by Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions • Spread to 900 cities in 82 countries by October 9, 2011 • Ended November 15, 2011 by forceful police ousting in secret raid

WHAT WAS/IS OWS? • Defines itself as a leaderless movement • Largely facilitated by self-defined anarchists who promote horizontal democracy • Essentially sought to raise awareness of the financial corruption of the exceedingly wealthy – gave us the concept of the 99 vs 1% • Organized into communes in major cities with decisions made via General Assemblies

ANARCHISM TENETS IN OWS • Horizontalism/Consensus • No centralized leadership • Decisions made in general assemblies • Tools: progressive speaker stack, hand signals, people’s microphone • Prefiguration & Autonomy • Communes established without consulting authorities beforehand to demonstrate way of life desired in wider world • Mutual Aid • Dedicated groups created facilities to meet life necessities – kitchens, libraries, medical necessities • Defiance • Began as protest movement against wealthy elite • Created their own media – a newspaper

NY TIMES NARRATIVES • 1 st Narrative: Support of the Protesters • 2 nd Narrative: Protesters Ridiculed as Hypocrites • 3 rd Narrative: The Left’s Answer to the Tea Party • 4 th Narrative: The Corruption of the NYPD

1 ST NY TIMES NARRATIVE: SUPPORT • Colin Moynihan, native New Yorker, first to report, tried to relay the protesters message correctly • *Excerpt* • Discusses the publication of the OWS Journal • Nicholas Kristof, protest journalist who covered genocide in Darfur, offered support • Discussed global spread of OWS • Offered a set of demands he thought would help the protesters • *Excerpt*

2 ND NY TIMES NARRATIVE: RIDICULE • Ginia Bellafante, a fashion and culture critic, wrote an article called “Gunning for Wall Street, With Faulty Aim, ” that set the tone for the ridicule narrative that developed. • *Article* • Difficult piece for protesters to contend with as it appeared as a news piece in the print edition of the NY Times rather than an editorial.

3 RD NY TIMES NARRATIVE: LEFT’S ANSWER TO THE TEA PARTY • Excerpt

4 TH NY TIMES NARRATIVE: THE CORRUPTION OF THE NYPD • Chelsea Elliot Pepper-Spray Incident • *Excerpt* • Brooklyn Bridge Honey Trap Incident • *Excerpt*

JOURNALISTS SUBJECT TO PROTEST PARADIGM • News Framing • Enhancing saliency of specific aspects to enforce particular moral interpretations of events • Paints protesters as “isolated minorities” • Reliance on Official Sources • Enhances objectivity of news stories • Invocation of Public Opinion • Point out differences between protesters and mainstream society • Make sweeping generalizations about public opinion on the issue and the public’s response to the issue • Delegitimization • Purposefully failing to explain the context and meaning of protest actions • Demonization • Focus on the potential threats and negative consequences of protests • The more radical a group is, the more negative the mainstream coverage of the group becomes

DOMINANT NARRATIVE? • The corruption of the NYPD became the dominant narrative – OWS drew little media attention before the pepperspray incident involving Chelsea Elliot and the mass arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge • Journalists utilized the protest paradigm to construct the OWS narratives, and Ginia Bellfante provided the frames for other journalists to use. • *Excerpt*

IMAGE SOURCES • In order of appearance • https: //upload. wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Day_47_Occupy_Wall_Street_November_2_2011_Shankbone_10. JPG/1280 px. Day_47_Occupy_Wall_Street_November_2_2011_Shankbone_10. JPG • https: //static. guim. co. uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/11/16/1321406986443/Occupy-Wall-Street-protes-007. jpg • https: //www. mcny. org/sites/default/files/Occupy-Wall-Street-Journal. jpg • https: //static 01. nyt. com/images/2011/09/25/nyregion/25 BIGCITY 1_SPAN/25 BIGCITY 1 -jumbo. jpg • https: //www. occonnect. com/community/viewtopic. php? t=15202 (both images on 3 rd narrative slide) • https: //www. nydailynews. com/resizer/6 Joe 3 MQ 2_i. ANBD_Gz. Fc. YV_pqbu. U=/800 x 0/arc-anglerfish-arc 2 -prod-tronc. s 3. amazonaws. com/public/KADD 3 UZGC 6 RTP 7 WUOPNMIUYKOU. jpg • http: //www. stillscenes. com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/occupywallstreet_arrests_2011_10_01_11. jpg • http: //media 4. s-nbcnews. com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111117 -occupy. WS-jc-03. grid-7 x 2. jpg