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Parker Molloy on NPR’s Public Editor Calling the ‘Hands Off!’ Protests ‘Not Very Compelling’
Parker Molloy, at The Present Age, on NPR’s frustrating decision to effectively ignore the large-scale, nationwide protests against the Trump administration in early April:
NPR Public Editor Kelly McBride defended this editorial decision in her April 10 newsletter, titled “How does NPR cover peaceful protests when the only news is the protest?,” writing that “aside from crowd sizes, most protests aren’t newsworthy enough to warrant continuous, national coverage.” She even went to New York to watch one of the demonstrations herself, concluding, “As a news event, it wasn’t very compelling.”
Molloy:
When Americans feel compelled to take to the streets in mass numbers, news organizations should be asking why. They should be interviewing participants, exploring the issues that drove people to protest, and examining the policies being contested. Instead, NPR opted for a couple of radio stories and three web articles.
McBride writes: “The individual protests themselves are unlikely to become significant news events. Instead, NPR’s best service is to describe the broader implications of the protests, if and when those implications are clear and significant.”
But how can audiences understand the “broader implications” if news organizations don’t explain what people are protesting about in the first place?
She astutely observes:
McBride’s position essentially argues that mass protests only become newsworthy when they turn violent or disruptive. She writes that “once a protest movement results in conflict or property damage, NPR journalists covering the protests will often note the exception.” This creates a perverse incentive: want coverage? Create conflict.
Unsaid is that Trump is likely hoping for violence and conflict, as an excuse to declare martial law and use military force against the protesters. The organizers and protesters understand this and specifically reject the idea of creating conflict.
I previously noted the lack of coverage of the Hands Off! protests (as did Molloy). With more nationwide protests happening today, how will NPR and other media organizations cover them this time?
(Early assessment: marginally better, judging from a quick check of several sites. I spotted at least a small mention on the front pages of New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, CNN, Chicago Sun-Times, CBS News, AP News, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, and NPR. Nothing on MSNBC, NBC News, Wall Street Journal. Let’s see what the front pages bring tomorrow.)
Protests Against Trump and Musk Extend Across the Country, but You’d Hardly Know It From the Mainstream Media
Donald Trump sure has a knack for bringing people together.
Saturday’s massive “Hands Off!” demonstrations brought together millions of people from across the country (and Europe) to protest the Trump/Musk regime, but judging from the front page of most newspapers and news sites today, you’d hardly know it.
The New York Times (still considered the nation’s “paper of record” for many) buried the demonstrations on page A18 of its Sunday print edition, and the rallies are nowhere to be found on the front page of nytimes.com.
Even Fox News briefly featured the protest as their top story (with the piffling headline “Anti-Trump protesters ditch their ‘jammies’—asked what they’re so mad about”) before dropping it to a second-level story—but still above the fold.
Here’s how other news services fared with their coverage (links to screenshots):
- ABC News: Second-level story (“Huge crowds gather in ‘Hands Off’ rallies nationwide in protest of Trump admin”).
- AP News: Below the fold (one page), under a “More coverage” section on tariffs (“Angry protesters from New York to Alaska assail Trump and Musk in ‘Hands Off!’ rallies”).
- CBS News: Top sidebar headline (“’Hands Off!’ Demonstrations protest Trump, Musk across the U.S.”).
- Chicago Sun-Times: Front and center.
- CNN: Bullet headline (“’Hands Off!’ protesters across US rally against Trump and Musk”).
- MSNBC: Below the fold (one page), under the “Most Watched” section (“Nationwide protests grow over Trump administration policies”). Not even an editorial decision.
- NBC News: Second-level story (“Demonstrators rally in ‘Hands Off’ protest against Trump policies and Musk-led government cuts”).
- The Washington Post: Well below the fold (eight pages), under the “National” section (“Mass protests across the U.S. signal opposition to Trump, Musk”).
- USA Today: Top left sidebar headline (“US citizens rally at nationwide ‘Hands Off’ protests”).
- Wall Street Journal: Well below the fold (five screens), with a bullet headline (“Protesters Rally Against Trump: ‘Democracy Not Dictatorship’”. Also, a sidebar under “Recommended Videos”: “Thousands of Anti-Trump Protesters Gathered Around the World”).
I understand news home pages change rapidly—and have already changed during the writing of this piece—but these nationwide protests against a deeply unpopular president and co-president deserve continuing, high-visibility coverage, if only to show others the depths of the anti-administration sentiment swelling within the population. Can you imagine if Joe Biden drew massive—or any—nationwide protests? It would get front page, above-the-fold, coverage for months. We’d still be talking about it today.
It’s almost like the mainstream media is trying to protect Donald Trump.