MEDIA & BLOG COVERAGE

Thanks so much to everyone who promoted, attended, spoke at and covered this event, the largest rally related to the BP Oil Flood to date. Rain didn’t deter us, the speakers were extraordinary (special shout-out to VERY welcome last-minute additions Dr. John and Phyllis Montana-LeBlanc!) the music by the Pair-a-Dice Tumblers was just the ticket, and the crowd was passionate, witty, and inspiring.

Following is an INCOMPLETE round-up of some of the coverage of Sunday’s rally. Please comment to alert us to any coverage we might be missing! We hear that during the rally itself, WWOZ was exhorting people to come out and participate. We love you, ‘OZ…

Associated Press: “Why are the perpetrators of the crime still in charge of a crime site that eleven people died in?”

ABC 26 TV: More Than 1,000 People Attend Rally Against BP and the Government

WWLTV: “I voted for President Obama and I feel like he let us down. This is our home. You know, we’ve lost enough with Katrina and now this?”

WDSU TV: Hundreds of people gathered in New Orleans on Sunday to call lawmakers to act swiftly on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

FOX 8 TV: About a thousand protesters young and old joined forces across from Jackson Square calling on the Federal Government to take control of the cleanup in the Gulf.

AFP (via Straits Times): The crowd that filled an outdoor amphitheater on the Memorial Day holiday weekend was larger – and possibly angrier – than expected. ‘Eco-murderers,’ shouted Belinda Sopczak of New Orleans.

BBC World News: (only a mention, but they say “several hundred protestors”)

Thee Gambit: A big tip o’ the hazmat hood to New Orleans’ Gambit for strong coverage, including on-scene tweets and helpful aggregation of third-party Flickr galleries. Hey, other local print pubs, want to join the 21st Century? Follow The Gambit’s lead. This is what a modern media presence looks like.
• Hundreds of New Orleanians gathered in Washington Artillery Park adjacent to the French Quarter on Sunday afternoon…
• “Brass Balls Not Tar Balls”

CBS News: As BP scrambles to find a new way to fix the Gulf oil disaster, anger and frustration surges in Louisiana.

NewOrleans.com: More than 1,000 protesters gathered across from Jackson Square in New Orleans today… Includes video of Ian Hoch’s awesome rant, which seems to be going viral.

LA Times: Librarian Danielle Brutsche, 37, whose shirt read “Our addiction to oil is killing us,” also raised the Katrina parallel. “It’s like a nightmare you can’t wake up from,” she said. While we’re glad the LAT made it out, what’s with the mean-spirited tone of their coverage?

MSNBC: “Resilient… and angry”

NOLAFemmes Blog: The crowd was engaged, motivated and angry. The energy was unified and palpable. Even in extremely volatile weather, with several downpours, the crowd was steadfast and captivated. New Orleans’ dauntless federal accountability advocate Sandy Rosenthal weighs in

Politics Daily: During the speeches, the crowd used newly coined slogans like “Berm, Baby, Berm,” and ” Dredge, Baby, Dredge,” and “We the People – We the Fishermen!”

Democracy Now!: “We need ‘We the Fishermen’ and ‘We the People’ to keep doing what we’re doing here…”

B.rox: There were perhaps a thousand people in attendance, yet I found myself reflecting how in some countries, thousands of people would be marching in the streets every day raising a ruckus. Editor B of the rightly respected B.rox.com reports back, including a gorgeous panoramic photo.

CNN: Pair-a-Dice leads the way. CNN arrived a little late to the party, looks like, but we’ll gratefully take what coverage they give.

Flickr: ArtByMags had this awesome set up on FlickR right away. More to come!

Humid Beings: Humid Beings hit the event hard, emerging almost immediately with multiple videos via its bold distributed-reportage model.
• Thomas Eckermann reads a poem.
• Roger Ivens addresses the crowd

Reuters: “I hold Obama responsible for not making BP stand up and look at the people in the face and fix it,” said Dean Blanchard, owner of a seafood business

Levees Not War: …a rain-damp but spirited crowd that included Spike Lee, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Tim Robbins.

The Times-Pic: Photo gallery. It’s a shame other aspects of the TP aren’t 1/2 as good as its photography staff. Whatevs. Maybe we should’ve sent our press releases to your New Jersey owners instead?

The Huffington Post: “…since tonight is a Treme break this YouTube speech by activist Ian Hoch seems like something John Goodman’s Creighton Burnette would say in a quality rant.”

Wonkette: Here is a picture from a New Orleans protest in which a dude with a mullet stands on the Union Jack… For the record: Dude standing on the flag, Murdered Gulf has your back 100%. People more upset about a national symbol being disrespected than an entire coast being destroyed are insane.