At campus protests, ‘DO NOT TALK TO THE MEDIA’!

Organizers of the pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Wisconsin at Madison posted a thorough set of guidelines to their Instagram account, affirming that there would be “NO DESECRATION OF THE LAND … NO DRUG USE/ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION,” among other directives. Also: “DO NOT TALK TO THE MEDIA UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN SPECIFICALLY MEDIA-TRAINED FOR THIS ACTION.”

“SPECIFICALLY MEDIA-TRAINED” personnel have made the rounds. At the George Washington University protest encampment last month, I encountered one such spokeswoman, who said, “We have instructed our community members not to speak to media.” She added: “We have trained media liaisons that are confident that they can get our message across. We have a very clear message. We have a set of demands, and we will be here until we achieve those demands.”