How The Media Distorted Berkeley Reporting

FEATURING MELEIZA FIGUEROA – After two rightwing fascist rallies in California’s Bay Area fizzled out over the weekend, Donald Trump gave a nod of approval on Twitter to the Washington Post’s coverage of counter-protests in Berkeley. The Post’s article was headlined, “Black-clad antifa attack peaceful right wing demonstrators in Berkeley.”

The sensationalist headline was echoed in the LA Times, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle and others, handing critics of antifa on the left and especially the right, the ammunition they appeared to be searching for to equate right and left wing violence.

But what really happened in Berkeley and just how distorted was media coverage?

Meleiza Figueroa, PhD Candidate in Geography at UC Berkeley, Press Director for the Stein/Baraka 2016 Presidential campaign, and Executive Producer of the Green News Network. Her experience in progressive media includes over a decade as a staff producer for the Pacifica Radio Network, and lead researcher for the 2005 documentary “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.” She has been a print contributor to Truthdig.com, Against the Current, and New Politics. She has been a longtime political educator and organizer, involved in a wide range of movements for social and environmental justice in California.  She is also part of the newly forming Campus Antifascist Network and is a correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali.