The article “Military parade barrels through DC as ‘No Kings’ protesters across U.S. decry Trump” (June 14, TribLive)is an example of news reporting agencies telling us what the news should look like rather than just reporting an event. If nothing else, the Associated Press should be called out for inaccuracy since they report that 128 tanks appeared when there were far fewer tanks — 28 Abrams and a few Shermans. Did they actually watch the parade?
It is hard to understand why the “major” broadcast sources ignored this event. C-SPAN did a great job covering the parade. While the president was there in the reviewing stand and was honored, the focus was on the troops, cadets, new enlistees and technology. What is wrong with some unabashed displays of patriotism? Family members who were on the Mall, in the heat, endorsed everything that occurred.
The article states that this event was “playing out against a counterpoint of protests.” Since this event was scheduled and organized well before any protests, it is more accurate to say that those protests played out against a counterpoint of many thousands and thousands of Americans celebrating the country’s history and military strength.
Showing a lack of balanced reporting, the accompanying article, “‘No Kings’ protesters oppose Trump administration’s policies” (June 15, TribLive) does not mention the fact that on the same date a multitude of Americans traveled to DC, or watched on C-SPAN, the salute to the history of the U.S. Army.
The Trib’s reliance on AP articles and its tainted reporting is unfortunate.
Vince Siecinski
Hempfield