Was the outcome of Seattle’s May Day protest really a surprise?

A week of television hype prior to May 1 focused on what previously went wrong and could go wrong again. Every Seattle news station followed up its apocalyptic previews on the day of, sending multiple teams of cameramen and reporters to the streets.

Crews weaved through crowds, providing hours upon hours of live coverage.

There was only one problem — in the world of protests, the march was benign. There was only some sign waving here and some chanting over there.

Television reporters remained persistent, filling dead air with words like “violence” and “mobs.” In reality, viewers were treated to dramatic live coverage of nothing.

However, the TV guys finally proved if you Wag the Dog long enough, it will bite back.

After hours of peaceful protests, the assault of a TV news reporter and his cameraman launched a series of arrests. An event that deserved minor coverage at best, turned into the chaos they were looking for.

In an amateur video of the incident, someone in the crowd can be heard saying, “You want violence, over here cameraman.”

This begs the question, if the stage wasn’t there, would the result have been the same?

I don’t think so.

There are bad eggs in every group, but the majority were there to peacefully protest whatever cause they support.

I’m not saying local TV should have ignored the event — it is news after all. But a single cameraman shooting stock footage of protesters would suffice. Quite honestly, that’s all it’s worth.

Instead, multiple reporters from multiple stations integrated themselves in the crowd and gave live play-by-play of nothing. They acted as antagonists, eventually launching the violence they were there to cover.

I believe in news. I work in the industry after all. But, when a news organization creates or becomes the news itself, there is a huge problem.

Hopefully there was a lesson learned during this year’s events.

If not, I fear this is a scene that will continue to repeat itself every May.

Assistant editor Kevin Endejan can be reached at 425-391-0363, ext. 5054.