Hordes of obnoxious fans of the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team adorned either in team garb or wearing ONP t-shirts [Full disclosure: Let’s Go Mets] invaded the home of the Washington Nationals over the weekend. Crazily thinking their team has a shot at the National League East division, management of the Nationals had worked to ban followers of the Phillie Phanatic from spoiling the stands. That’s quite a turnaround from recent years, when the doormat Nationals welcomed anybody with a pulse. When the Phils went to D.C. in the past, the stadium was rechristened Citizens Bank Park South.
With its calls for a May 1 general strike, OWS tried to get back on the media landscape. The bid largely fizzled, though I did view an enthusiastic OWS march from the Madison Ave window of odwyerpr.com worldwide headquarters.
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting studied recent media mentions of “corporate greed” and “income inequality” in the New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. Those mentions peaked when OWS was riding high last October, but plummeted in 2012.
The May issue of FAIR’s Extra notes: “While it is certainly true that prior to Occupy, there was virtually no discussion of class issues in the mainstream media, it’s clear that as Occupy faded from coverage, the media turned away from the persistent issues the movement is trying to highlight.”
The most prominent slogans of OWS, “We are the 99 percent” and “The One Percent,” have made their marks as ways of talking about the income chasm in America. FAIR rightly notes that those terms could become buzzwords and “cease to have any connection to the way American capitalism produces and reproduces economic and social inequality.” That would be the same way that the Philadelphia gang is using “Occupy” as a buzzword to torment the poor Nats.
If Occupy wants to remain relevant, it has to “occupy” something.
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