Media coverage is always good for a chuckle, even local stories.

Unfortunately that's sometimes about all it is good for. I hate reading newspaper articles about events I have attended. It's like being a military veteran and watching a war movie in which the insignia is wrong and protocal is violated. Nothing particularly major but it just irritates you enough to pick at the experience.

Case in point.

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060319/NEWS01/603190332/-1/archives

Let's start with the headline. Iraq protest rallies reach Brevard

This wouldn't be so bad except it implies this was the first protest. In point of fact we have been holding organized peace vigils, rallies and war protests since before the invasion began. We had a huge rally last September that drew even more people than the one this past Saturday. We have a monthly vigil that routinely draws scores of people.

Next.

The demonstrators -- many dressed in black or in mock blood-splattered military uniforms -- carried fake headstones representing the 100 Floridians killed in the campaign so far.

I would estimate approximately 25% were dressed in black. The official t-shirt of the demonstration was white with black writing. Only 1 person was wearing a blood-spattered military uniform. One nineteen year old girl. That's it!

The protesters, greeted mainly by honking horns and waves of support from cars driving by,

'Tis true there was very little in the way of opposition but it would have been nice if they'd mentioned we timed the march to engage pedestrians lining up to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade scheduled for a little later in the afternoon. The image of us threading through crowded sidewalks in front of an Irish pub and actually talking to people, both sympathetic and oppositional should have been included, in my opinion.

Minor issue with the next point, but a single question would have resolved the error.

One protester's stillness and silence spoke volumes as he posed under a black hood with arms extended and hands cuffed together much like some of the images from the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.

He...was a she.

Okay, last but certainly not least, the summation to this remarkable piece of journalism.

Once the protesters made it to City Hall, there were a few short speeches before local poet Gilda Klausner read her anti-war verse "Mother Next Door."

One sentence at the conclusion of the story to describe the actual rally that took place at City Hall following the march. A few short speeches? How about mentioning the main speech was given by Dr. Bob Bowman, Democratic candidate for Congress who said his first action upon being sworn in as a U.S. Rep would be to draw up articles of impeachment? How about mentioning we read the names of the 100 soldiers who have died from Florida? How about mentioning we invited Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Dimwit) to say a few words honoring our war dead but he was too busy to attend? How about mentioning that the crowd swelled at that point and included more than just the 200 marchers?

Now I do have to give credit where credit is due. I am impressed with the counting ability. I do believe they got the estimated number of attendees correct. And yes, it did happen in Melbourne.

Is it any wonder when I engage in discussions with people over current events that I don't accept newspaper accounts as necessarily gospel?

there are errors. It's too bad, but we don't value accuracy OR journalists very highly in this country. If we paid them better and held them to higher standards, things would be different...

If people know there are Democrats actually speaking out there, they might get the idea that there is a real alternative to *co.

What you have just shown us is not a simple error, it is part of a calculated, nation-wide campain to silence any news about what the Democratic politicians and political hopefuls are doing.

And the only cure for it is for those Democrats to work so hard at raising community awareness and speaking in public that the average American gets to know about them despite the media's blackout.

It's back to grass-roots now, if we want to get anywhere.

( Note I said grass-roots, not grass&roots ;-) )