Did the No Kings Protests Get Enough Attention?
Last Saturday’s “No Kings” protests were the country’s largest mass demonstration in recent history. Organizers claimed that close to seven million people turned out at thousands of locations nationally to protest against the authoritarian policies of President Donald Trump.
The Sunday covers of national and local newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Portland’s Oregonian, and the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Colorado, reflected the magnitude of this show of public dissent, with stories highlighting the size of the crowds and the protesters’ costumes and signs.
The focus of the conversation among media critics, however, was the conspicuous absence of a lead story on the Sunday cover of the New York Times, which ran two small images of the protests below the fold, along with a teaser to the story on page A23. That relatively muted attention prompted callouts from journalists including Margaret Sullivan and Bill Mitchell, with Mitchell calling the Times’ decision an “epic fail.” CJR’s Bill Grueskin also gave a dart to the Times in this morning’s newsletter.
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