World is watching Chicago’s NATO clashes? Not exactly
By Lauren FitzPatrick Sun-Times Media lfitzpatrick@suntimes.com May 21, 2012 4:50PM
“The whole world is watching,” crowds shouted Sunday afternoon as Chicago police reacted to unruly protesters with wooden batons.
Only maybe the world wasn’t, at least according to its newspapers. The scuffles after anti-NATO rallies left nary a blip on front pages of major international dailies.
An informal survey of global front pages Monday showed Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb, who died Sunday, held more ground than coverage of the NATO Summit in Chicago.
And only in a few major American papers outside of Chicago — The New York Times, Washington Post and Dallas Morning News — did photographs of the clash between blue-helmeted cops and black-clad demonstrators greet morning readers.
The Philadelphia Inquirer and Atlanta Journal Constitution showed the Iraq Veterans Against the War march but not the violence that erupted after it.
Berlin’s Der Tagesspiegel featured a photo and story of the NATO summit, as did Athens’ Ethnos. Tokyo’s The Japan Times featured a large photograph from the G8, originally scheduled to be held Friday and Saturday in Chicago but moved months ago to Camp David in Maryland.
The dearth of global coverage isn’t surprising, said Kelly McBride, a senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute.
“That doesn’t mean that the protests aren’t big news if you live next to them, but there tends to be a certain predictability to the protests,” she said.
“Usually the only time they make news is if there is an inappropriate police response. It tends to get attention if it’s deemed way over the top.”
Chicago Police arrested at least 45 people. Four police officers and several protesters were treated for injuries related to Sunday’s march and aftermath, at least one of whom was taken to a hospital.
World is watching Chicago’s NATO clashes? Not exactly – Chicago Sun-Times.
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