On September 14 2004, two weeks to the hour after their arrests with 1200 others during the Republican National Convention, two detainees described their experiences on a live cable access show which was broadcast in Somerville Massachusetts. The detainees were Charles Shaw, a prominent member of the Green Party at the time and editor of an online magazine devoted to political issues; and Mike Hall, the producer of the show and video journalist who was held in police custody for nearly two days. Joining the panel was Savic Rasovic, a self-proclaimed propagandist from Montenegro, who managed a transcontinental media organization from Boston.
Participants:
Ellen Braune (E.B.): street interviewer.
Michael Hall (M.H.): videographer and detainee.
Savic Rasovic (S.R.): political commentator.
Charles Shaw (C.S.): Green Party Co-Chair and detainee.
Rich Schieferdecker (R.S.): host.
M.H.: On August 31st, there were a number of civil disobedience actions that were planned, and I didn't know the exact time or location of these actions, because they were kept fairly secret. But I was in Union Square that evening, and looking around, I could tell that something was about to happen; that there were very heartfelt expressions of dissatisfaction amongst the crowd, and passionate speeches.
M.H.: I found a marching band that was getting ready to march into the street, they were setting up in Union Square. And I thought it was possible that they could be starting this whole business. So, I kept my eye on them, and sure enough, they launched into the street, in defiance of a police order that they get a permit before they march.
R.S.: Did the police make their presence known?
M.H.: Absolutely. They were in the square, they had a parameter around the square, their presence was well known. They had motor scooters, bicycles and in fact, paddy wagons and busses on the street. But this was typical for the entire time I was in New York, since Sunday. That the police were making their presence known, but just basically to contain the peace. In fact, there were demonstrations the day before, which were also not permitted, which the police allowed to pursue without confrontation. So, I figured at the time that there would be no problems, that I could continue documenting this protest, and not be apprehended by the police.
R.S.: Savic, you were at the Sunday demonstrations, is that right? And that went off peacefully, yes?
S.R.: It did. Mike called me and said he is going, so I thought, I don't want to just go to a protest, and participate as one of the whistling people, I wanted to do something. So, I thought I could assist him, carry equipment, do extra camera shots, whatever it is. And Sunday was great, because all these people, cops were nice. But I think if I were one of them I would have planned the whole thing days in advance, anyway. So I assumed that Sunday was nice because you don't want to abuse half a million people.
S.R.: [Being interviewed on the street] I would like to say that besides George W. Bush, the main culprits for this situation we are in, lack of democracy, civil rights stripping, wars, you name it. Is, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News obviously, NPR, PBS, who did I forget who's major? UPN, all these media have failed. They have failed miserably to inform the public, they have failed to be truthful to themselves, and they have failed as journalists. I do not accept that as a journalist you can be a news reader. That is not journalism.
E.B.: Why do you think that is?
S.R.: Well it's not like somebody came down and told them not to, but they're owned by corporations, and it's a trend, right? They earn money by saying "wow, is lipstick dangerous for your lips?" They earn money for tag lines. People don't have time to bother with real knowledge. So thus the media says, we don't want to actually tell you anything, we just want to earn the money. I'm ranting because nobody's saying this. Everybody wants to be on the media's good side, why? We should ignore them. We should turn off our TVs, our radios, and turn to independent news sources online.
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that was uncomfortable to watch
foldedintobeauty2 3 years ago
imagine what it was like to live through it...
mikehallvideo 3 years ago