Jeanfromfillmore
04-12-2010, 03:55 PM
CNN Shocks Conservatives with Tea Party Report
By Don | April 11, 2010
The Tea Party movement which has come under heavy criticism from the liberal media and politicians finally received some positive press from none other than CNN.
From CNN.com
Here's what you often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: offensive posters blasting President Obama and Democratic leaders; racist rhetoric spewed from what seems to be a largely white, male audience; and angry protesters rallying around the Constitution.
Case in point: During the health care debate last month, opponents shouted racial slurs at civil rights icon Georgia Rep. John Lewis and one person spit on Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The incidents made national headlines, and they provided Tea Party opponents with fodder to question the movement.
But here's what you don't often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: Patriotic signs professing a love for country; mothers and fathers with their children; African-Americans proudly participating; and senior citizens bopping to a hip-hop rapper.
Last week, I saw all of this during a five-city Western swing as the Tea Party Express national tour made its way across the country. CNN was along for the ride, and I was charged with planning CNN's coverage for five stops in two states: St. George, Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah; and Grand Junction and Denver, Colorado.
This latest Tea Party caravan kicked off on March 27 in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nevada. It is scheduled to make 45 stops before rolling into Washington on April 15, not so coincidentally on "Tax Day."
CNN was the only national news outlet on this Western leg of the tour. We had a full team on the ground: myself, correspondent Ed Lavandera, producers Tracy Sabo and Jim Spellman and the crew of the CNN Express bus. For Spellman, it was his third Tea Party Express tour.
Together, we beamed out images of the anger and the optimism, profiled African-Americans who are proud to be in the Tea Party's minority and showed activists stirred by "God Bless America" or amused by a young rapper who strung together rhymes against the president and Democrats.
Later in the article;
It is important to show the colorful anger Americans might have against elected leaders and Washington. But people should also see the orange-vested Tea Party hospitality handlers who welcome you with colorful smiles.
There were a few signs that could be seen as offensive to African-Americans. But by and large, no one I spoke with or I heard from on stage said anything that was approaching racist.
Almost everyone I met was welcoming to this African-American television news producer.
And though speakers railed against the "lame-stream media," activists and their leaders praised CNN, especially for being the only national media outlet riding along for the post-weekend stops. Some of them e-mailed me after my trip, thanking our crew for fairly giving them a voice.
I have little doubt that CNN sent Travis on this assignment because he was black hoping to come back with some proof that the racism the media had accused the movement of only a month ago was true. So it must have been quite a shock for them to find out that the movement was actually more like what Tea Party organizers had said they were all along, average Joe's.
CNN deserves credit for not only taking on this story but on honestly reporting on it even if it goes against the grain of their liberal mentality.
Now if only the rest of the liberal media would wake up and take their cue from CNN.
http://www.aim.org/don-irvine-blog/cnn-shocks-conservatives-with-tea-party-report/
This is an interesting site. It shows the ratings of TV networks and their shows, including News programming. Look how bad MSNBC’s Olberman and Mathues are doing.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/04/09/msnbc-declines-broadly-among-adults-25-54-vs-2009-q1/47859
By Don | April 11, 2010
The Tea Party movement which has come under heavy criticism from the liberal media and politicians finally received some positive press from none other than CNN.
From CNN.com
Here's what you often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: offensive posters blasting President Obama and Democratic leaders; racist rhetoric spewed from what seems to be a largely white, male audience; and angry protesters rallying around the Constitution.
Case in point: During the health care debate last month, opponents shouted racial slurs at civil rights icon Georgia Rep. John Lewis and one person spit on Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The incidents made national headlines, and they provided Tea Party opponents with fodder to question the movement.
But here's what you don't often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: Patriotic signs professing a love for country; mothers and fathers with their children; African-Americans proudly participating; and senior citizens bopping to a hip-hop rapper.
Last week, I saw all of this during a five-city Western swing as the Tea Party Express national tour made its way across the country. CNN was along for the ride, and I was charged with planning CNN's coverage for five stops in two states: St. George, Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah; and Grand Junction and Denver, Colorado.
This latest Tea Party caravan kicked off on March 27 in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nevada. It is scheduled to make 45 stops before rolling into Washington on April 15, not so coincidentally on "Tax Day."
CNN was the only national news outlet on this Western leg of the tour. We had a full team on the ground: myself, correspondent Ed Lavandera, producers Tracy Sabo and Jim Spellman and the crew of the CNN Express bus. For Spellman, it was his third Tea Party Express tour.
Together, we beamed out images of the anger and the optimism, profiled African-Americans who are proud to be in the Tea Party's minority and showed activists stirred by "God Bless America" or amused by a young rapper who strung together rhymes against the president and Democrats.
Later in the article;
It is important to show the colorful anger Americans might have against elected leaders and Washington. But people should also see the orange-vested Tea Party hospitality handlers who welcome you with colorful smiles.
There were a few signs that could be seen as offensive to African-Americans. But by and large, no one I spoke with or I heard from on stage said anything that was approaching racist.
Almost everyone I met was welcoming to this African-American television news producer.
And though speakers railed against the "lame-stream media," activists and their leaders praised CNN, especially for being the only national media outlet riding along for the post-weekend stops. Some of them e-mailed me after my trip, thanking our crew for fairly giving them a voice.
I have little doubt that CNN sent Travis on this assignment because he was black hoping to come back with some proof that the racism the media had accused the movement of only a month ago was true. So it must have been quite a shock for them to find out that the movement was actually more like what Tea Party organizers had said they were all along, average Joe's.
CNN deserves credit for not only taking on this story but on honestly reporting on it even if it goes against the grain of their liberal mentality.
Now if only the rest of the liberal media would wake up and take their cue from CNN.
http://www.aim.org/don-irvine-blog/cnn-shocks-conservatives-with-tea-party-report/
This is an interesting site. It shows the ratings of TV networks and their shows, including News programming. Look how bad MSNBC’s Olberman and Mathues are doing.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/04/09/msnbc-declines-broadly-among-adults-25-54-vs-2009-q1/47859