Thousands protest press credibility in march against mainstream media

Thousands of people in the UK and US united in their rejection of mainstream media in a mass protest. Protesters targeted the headquarters of media giants like Fox News, the BBC and NBS, decrying their narrow coverage of world affairs.

The March Against Mainstream Media (MAMM) organized the international protest via social media and challenged the established media to cover it.

In a statement posted on the MAMM website, the organization said big media outlets had two options: “report on the fact that thousands of people are currently protesting outside of their buildings because they are keeping important news from the public’s eyes,” or ignore them.

Across America people turned out brandishing banners, condemning established news channels.

“Boycott the media!” one banner read in High Point California, while in Kansas city supporters of the movement wearing Anonymous masks delivered the message “America deserves the truth!”

A recurrent theme that cropped up a number of times in the US protests was the media’s coverage of the stricken nuclear plants in Fukushima Japan that were damaged in the 2010 earthquake-triggered tsunami.

"The radiation from that plant is going to reach us and affect us, not just in California but worldwide.  How is it going to affect us, how is it going to affect our water, our food supply, and our way of life?" said one protester to KMPH Fox 24.

Meanwhile in London, supporters of the anti-establishment movement gathered outside the offices of the BBC in a sit-in-style protest.

Jet Barnett, one of the organizers of MAMM spoke to RT and said the march was a sign that people were beginning to look for their news in alternative media.

“We want mainstream media to listen, to let them know that the people are finally coming together and influence them to make a change,” said Barnett to RT, adding that the organization is fighting to restore journalist integrity.

Confidence in US mainstream media has been declining sharply over the past couple of years with only 44 percent of Americans trusting mass media, according to a Gallup poll in September. The figures for this year are a slight improvement on 2012 when the survey saw trust in the media fall to a record low of 40 percent.

However, a large amount of Americans (46 percent) believe media has become too liberal, compared to only 13 percent who regard mainstream news coverage as overly conservative.

Gallup’s statistics show the steady decline in media trust in America from 2005, with Democrats reportedly having the most confidence in American news outlets.