When 200 people gather in Haines because they are concerned about losing our democracy, it’s definitely newsworthy.
Almost 10% of our community stood in solidarity at Third and Main, making a powerful statement. And the rally did feel powerful. The back-and-forth drive-bys by a small group of flag-draped pickups revving engines felt more like a few buzzing mosquitoes – annoying, but harmless – even juvenile. Not only did the CVN story diminish our numbers by half, but also elevated the drive-by to “parade” status.
I’m grateful, that if we ignore the headline (more about this momentarily), that in a round-about way the story articulates one important point: both the 200-strong rally and the small (“a few dozen”) counter-protest participants were motivated by love of country, and concern for country, as symbolized by the flag.
That said, the headline gives the counter-protest undeserved top billing: “Parade, demonstration show a divided community.” It implies a non-existent parity between the two groups who mobilized that day.
Even more telling, the bulk of quoted material from the counter-protest fills up more than twice the copy space of what was allotted to No Kings participants, meaning the CVN articulated concerns of 14% of the small group and only 1.5% of participant concerns of the large group. Fair and balanced?
There was a main event on June 14 and a side show. By its extensive coverage of the side show, the CVN paints an extremely skewed picture of that day.
Nancy Berland