Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot ...
-- English Nursery Rhyme
What's with the creepy masks of the guy with the smile and the goatee we see people wearing in coverage of the Occupy Wall protests?
And why would anybody choose a Saturday, when a lot of banks aren't even open anyway, for a protest against "too-big-to-fail" banks like Wells-Fargo and JPMorgan Chase?
In other words, what was so special about Saturday, Nov. 5, anyway? And did anybody notice it? There were several stories in the "mainstream media," but they never really got into it.
Guy Fawkes was an English Catholic who was caught Nov. 5, 1605, sneaking gunpowder into a basement under the houses of Parliament. He was accused of plotting to assassinate King James II by blowing up the building, and was executed for treason. For many years thereafter, English children celebrated the failure of the plot by building bonfires, setting off fireworks and, at least sometimes, wearing masks on "Guy Fawkes Day," every Nov. 5. More recently, a character in a comic book and a movie who wore a Guy Fawkes mask has entered the popular culture as sort of a symbol of rebellion. [Click here and scroll down to Crispijn van de Passe print to see the contemporary 17th-century engraving that inspired the masks. Guido Fawkes is third from left.] So it has been taken up by some of Occupy ______ protesters.
There are several layers of irony here, and, in my opinion, none of the news media have done a very good job of dealing with them.
In an article in the Los Angeles Times, Michael Muskal gives some of the back story:
Guy Fawkes was an English mercenary and failed plotter whose death was elevated into a national celebration complete with bonfires and the burning of effigies. Four centuries later -- thanks to Hollywood, not to mention a deep undertow of popular discontent -- his grinning, mustachioed face has become the symbol of resistance for almost any political movement.Muskal might have added London, England, where the popular movie "V for Vendetta" (2006) featured a character wearing a Guy Fawkes mask as a symbol of rebellion.
That, of course, includes the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations across the United States.
From New York to Seattle, protesters have donned the stylized masks of Fawkes -- a person seen by many as a 17th century terrorist.
Friday, the day before Guy Fawkes' rebellion was traditionally celebrated, an Associated Press story by Tamara Lush and Verena Dobnik explained how his image came to be taken up first by a graphic novel, then by "V for Vendetta" and most recent by Occupy Wall Street protesters. They also interview an academic who has studied the movie and several of the protesters.
The story, headlined, "For Occupy protesters, every day is Guy Fawkes Day," is a pretty typical AP story. It's kind of bland, but it's carefully reported. In addition to Lush and Dobnik, two other reporters contributed to it. (It looks like Dobnik put it together in New York.) Let's read it and analyze it.
Consider these questions: How many people were interviewed for the story? Is it hard news or a feature? What kind of lede does it have - hard or soft? What's the news here? Is there an news peg? Is it an anniversary story? Or a combination of the two? Is it readable? Is the historical explanation necessary? How clearly is it presented? What might you have added if you were reporting it? Who else might you have talked to?
* * *
A very different kind of story, again on Friday the day before Guy Fawkes' Day, was published in the financial weblog Motley Fool and posted again on the NASDAQ.com website. It concerned plans by the Anonymous protest group (which is getting to be anything but anonymous in spite of its name). The item begins:
November 5th is Bank Transfer Day , and its timing is no accident. Kristen Christian, the person who thought up the idea, chose the date that was once popular in Britain as Guy Fawkes Day.And so on ... of course, Guy Fawkes Day aka Bank Transfer Day was on a Saturday. An day-after roundup article by Martha White on Time magazine's website noted that, "Local news outlets around the country offer piecemeal reports of irate customers taking their business away from big banks, sometimes in conjunction with the Occupy Wall Street protests that have moved well beyond lower Manhattan and into cities throughout the U.S." But she also quoted a banker who said the cause "might have been hurt by the fact that the day they chose fell on a Saturday, when sporting events and other distractions occupy consumers’ minds." After reviewing coverage nationwide, White concluded it was too soon to tell if the protest was effective.
But Bank Transfer Day proponents aren't the only ones who might act on Nov. 5. The hacker group Anonymous has adopted the date in recent years as a favored day of action. The group's already made one dramatic proclamation, and there could be other threats lurking. Everyone is hopeful that Bank Transfer Day goes off without a hitch, but a few bad eggs might make this Saturday a day that one company would rather forget.
One company that's been a persistent critic of the movement might see harsher action on Nov. 5. Anonymous has declared war on Fox News, a division of News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWS) (Nasdaq: NWSA) , threatening to make an example of the broadcaster's website.
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Anonymous and Guy Fawkes are an unlikely pairing. Those who've seen V For Vendetta know the background, but for anyone who's never seen the movie, here's the short version of the story behind Guy Fawkes: An affected English anarchist in anonymous attire attempts to adjourn the administration through means most abominable, assembling ample explosives adjacent to Parliament while also assassinating assorted authorities. Also, Natalie Portman shaves her head.
The film's signature prop is a Guy Fawkes mask, and this in combination with the message of rebellion gave the "hacktivists" a stylistic mode of expression. The mask has been showing up occasionally at Occupy rallies, and a version of the mask has also been featured on the Bank Transfer Day's Facebook page.
A footnote - who profits from the masks? "V for Vendetta" was a Warner Brothers movie, and Warner holds the licensing rights to the image on the mask. So every time a protester buys a Guy Fawkes mask, the Time-Warner media conglomerate collects the licensing fee.
===========
A couple stories try to pinpoint exactly who's wearing the masks.
One, by John Blackstone of CBS News in Oakland, Calif., traces them to a shadowy group it calls the "Black Bloc" ... he writes:
"For years, these black-clad demonstrators, known as the Black Bloc, have been showing up at marches in Europe and the U.S. Although often small in numbers, by destroying property and challenging police, they can hijack the message of otherwise peaceful protests." For what it's worth, Blackstone's is the only story I've seen that mentions a "Black Bloc." It makes me wonder if some of the protesters in Oakland were having a little fun with a gullible reporter.
The best article I've seen so far is by Michael Greenberg in the Nov. 10 New York Review of Books. Headlined "In Zuccotti Park," it is based on solid reporting. And it tells how the movement got started, among other things. Greenberg noticed the masks, and here's what he says about them:
In mid-July, a senior editor at Adbusters, Micah White, floated an e-mail to subscribers with the idea that they “flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades, and occupy Wall Street for a few months.” As a result, a group of about one hundred people began meeting regularly in Tompkins Square Park to plan the protest, creating the NYC General Assembly, a bold and difficult experiment in direct democracy that has become the ever-expanding decision-making body of Occupy Wall Street. At some point during the summer, the loose collection of hackers known as Anonymous joined the protest. The members of Anonymous are identifiable by the Guy Fawkes masks they wear, and they are known for, among other things, their “denial of service” attacks that involve saturating target websites such as those of banks and credit card payment centers with so many requests that they overload and crash.For my money, the New York Review of Books is one of the best magazines in the business for serious long-form journalism. And I trust Greenburg's account more than anything else I've read.
But the AP story by Tamara Lush and Verena Dobnik I asked you to comment on comes in a close second.
Why?
I think it's because they're both reported by people who went to the park and talked to the people there.
2 comments:
What an interesting man. It doesn't seem as if many people were actually interviewed for this story, but rather some extensive research took place. This man,whom I've never heard of, seems as though he left his mark as one of the most symbolic people in history, at least in media history. I think this is more of a feature story, than a hard news lede. The reason I say this, is because he isn't even alive anymore. He is celebrated, and this news isn't urging or bound to change the pace of the reader's day. It is a great feature, however. I would say it has a soft lede, with interesting content. The "lede" was creative. "Four centuries later -- thanks to Hollywood, not to mention a deep undertow of popular discontent -- his grinning, mustachioed face has become the symbol of resistance for almost any political movement." It is a fitting story, especially because of all the political uproar presently going on across our nation. If I were the reporter, I probably would have talked to some historians specializing in politics and got some more background on Fawkes himself. The story is thorough, however, I think it could be more thorough. I would probably have included more background on Guy Fawkes and why he is celebrated, and why he is celebrated the way he is celebrated. The mask is priceless!
Thanks for posting, Kaitlyn. I think you're on target in your assessment of the article (I hadn't finished the item when you read it, and I incorporated a couple of the same points you made here, BTW, just to give credit where it's due.
:)
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