> Vol. 5, No. 1216W - The American Reporter - December 5, 1999
>
> The Crisis of Globalism
> COMMENTARY: NEARING GLOBAL SUMMIT, WTO ON HIGH MEDIA GROUND
> by Norman Solomon American Reporter Correspondent Washington, D.C.
>
> WASHINGTON -- When thousands of protesters converge on Seattle at the end
> of this month to challenge the global summit of the World Trade
> Organization (WTO), they're unlikely to get a fair hearing from America's
> mass media.
>
> Consider how one of the nation's most influential newspapers framed the
> upcoming confrontation as November began. The Washington Post reported on
> its front page that the WTO has faced "virulent opposition" -- an
> assessment not quoted or attributed to anyone -- presumably just a matter
> of fact.
>
> Virulent? According to my dictionary, the mildest definition of the word is
> "intensely irritating, obnoxious or harsh." The other definitions:
> "extremely poisonous or pathogenic; bitterly hostile or antagonistic;
> hateful."
>
> Don't you just love objective reporting?
>
> Headlined above the fold on page one of the Post, the Nov. 2 article went
> on to quote four pro-WTO sources: the organization's president, a top
> executive at the Goldman, Sachs investment firm, the U.S. trade
> representative and a member of the British House of Commons. In contrast,
> quotations from foes of the WTO were scarce and fleeting.
>
> Such coverage of trade issues is significant because it's routine. For much
> of the U.S. news media, the virtues of economic globalization are
> self-evident, like motherhood and apple pie.
>
> Overall, in recent years, journalists depicted the NAFTA and GATT trade
> pacts as steps toward rationality and global progress. Opponents have been
> frequently discussed -- but not often heard. The media "debate" over
> globalization has resembled the sound of one side clapping.
>
> Many of the anti-WTO activists heading to Seattle have gained in-depth
> knowledge about key aspects of trade and the global economy. They will
> share a great deal of information and deep concern about the environment,
> labor, human rights and economic justice.
>
> Meanwhile, in the halls of corporate power, strategists are worried.
>
> The Nov. 8 issue of Business Week features a downbeat piece by Jeffrey
> Garten, a former undersecretary of commerce in the Clinton administration,
> who declares: "In late November, Seattle is likely to be the scene of a big
> test for global capitalism. That's when more than 1,000 nongovernmental
> organizations (NGOs) are planning to disrupt the kickoff of a new round of
> global trade negotiations."
>
> Similar concerns are being voiced by many other media commentators. What
> are they afraid of? Undue democratic participation in decision-making. NGOs
> "have skillfully exploited the void between shrinking governments unable to
> cushion the impact of change on ordinary citizens and multinational
> companies that are the agents of that change," Garten writes.
>
> Translation: Huge firms have been able to bend and shape government
> policies, while "ordinary citizens" have suffered dire consequences. Rather
> than passively accept the results, activist groups are resisting -- and
> what's worse, they're getting somewhere.
>
> "While governments and chief executives bore the public and the media with
> sterile abstractions about free markets," Garten adds, "NGOs are sending
> more nuanced messages sensitive to the anxieties of local communities
> around the world. At the same time, they are preparing sophisticated
> strategies to influence television networks, newspapers and magazines."
>
> Translation: Activists are threatening to usurp the prerogatives of big
> money to determine the main media messages.
>
> "If Washington and Corporate America don't move decisively," Garten warns,
> "NGOs could dominate public opinion on global trade and finance."
>
> Translation: Washington and Corporate America must make sure that they
> continue to dominate public opinion.
>
> But the fears of some are the hopes of others: During the week after
> Thanksgiving, events in Seattle could signify a breakthrough for advocates
> of democratic processes. The surfacing activism could create a new dynamic
> powerful enough to shift the terms of public discourse.
>
> Throughout this decade, as government leaders and corporate execs have
> marched to the beat of multinational drums, grassroots oppositional
> movements have taken root and flowered in many communities. Gradually,
> since the founding of the World Trade Organization five years ago, they
> have developed ways to monitor the secretive WTO's activities and to work
> together -- across boundaries of race, class, language, culture and
> nationality.
>
> Truly democratic procedures -- not unelected WTO officials -- should
> determine the rules of the global economy. The implications are profound:
> for human rights, workers, public health and the environment. With a
> worldwide movement emerging to challenge the corporate globalizers, we'll
> see how much of its message can get through the media filters during the
> historic Seattle summit.
>
> Norman Solomon's latest book is "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media."
>
> Copyright 1999 Joe Shea The American Reporter. All Rights Reserved.
>
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