For the second time in two weeks, WZZM 13 has run a one-sided story on the arrests of protestors at an antiwar rally in Grand Rapids on March 17, 2007. Both the initial story and the most recent story on March 26, "Grand Valley Professor Arraigned after Anti-War Rally," assert that the protests were "out of hand." However, the only perspectives reported are those of the Grand Rapids Police Department. Even more disappointing is the fact that WZZM 13 failed to give any context about the protest. In the March 26 story, WZZM 13 states only that a Professor Herman Kurthen of GVSU was arrested during "an anti-war rally in Grand Rapids" but neglects to mention the fact that the group was specifically targeting Representative Ehlers because of his ongoing support for the occupation of Iraq and that the protest was asking him to sign a contract supporting an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq by pledging to vote against funding requests for the war.

Send a letter to WZZM 13 about this story.

Analysis of the Marrch 26 Story

Analysis of the March 17 Story

The March 17 antiwar protest received widespread coverage in the local and statewide media, although most of it was sensationalized and focused on the arrests rather than what was a successful action at the home of Representative Vern Ehlers (who was in his house at the time). The protestors delivered a pledge for Ehlers to sign stating that he supports an immediate end to the occupation of the Iraq and will vote to stop funding the war. However, despite these clear goals, the local news media focused on unprovoked arrests by the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD). In light of the news coverage, we encourage people to send letters to the local news media using the following links:

WZZM 13
WOOD TV 8
WXMI 17
The Grand Rapids Press

For a thorough analysis of the media coverage, read "Local News Coverage of Antiwar March Sensationalized and Biased" at mediamouse.org. The article also features links to the media coverage and deconstructions of each story.