Occupy and the Visual Media: Bring in the Clowns?

What’s happened to Occupy?

Or should I say, what’s happened to the coverage of Occupy by the visual media — especially under the demand (and creative license) of populating those seductive news photo galleries? Inspecting the two photos documenting the F29 Zuccotti Park action in a Reuters’ Editor’s Choice gallery last week, it’s hard to come to a different conclusion than the movement (and specifically here, the crackdown on the movement) is serving as an amusement.

The caption for the purple-nosed clown informs us he appears before a bank of officers guarding a Bank of America. If that’s formally true, I suppose the status quo has been solidly restored.

By the way, It’s interesting to compare these two photos with two other protest photos in the slideshow from Barcelona against education cuts. I guess you gotta riot and burn things to earn more serious depiction these days.

(photos: Lucas Jackson/Reuters caption 1: New York Police Department officers arrest a member of the Occupy Wall St movement during a “national day of action” demonstration by the movement in New York February 29, 2012. caption 2: A member of the Occupy Wall St movement stands in front of New York Police Department officers guarding a Bank of America branch during a “national day of action” demonstration in New York February 29, 2012.)