Unwitting media promote protesters’ propaganda

Jerry Bellune

Jun 1, 2024

Have we been brain washed?

Were you surprised by newspaper and TV reports of the walkout at Duke University’s commencement?

The Associated Press reported that 30 protesters walked out as comedian Jerry Seinfeld was introduced.

More than 7,000 students stayed in their seats as Seinfeld, a supporter of Israel in its war with Hamas, advised the students to maintain their sense of humor because they will need it in life.

The Atlantic magazine reported at least six news outlets, including the New York Times and Fox News, focused on the non-disruptive walkout rather than what Seinfeld, who is Jewish, had to say.

Headlines read like this: “As Seinfeld Receives Honorary Degree at Duke, Students Walk Out in Protest” (New York Times).

“Duke Students Walk Out to Protest Jerry Seinfeld’s Speech in Latest Grad Disruption” (USA Today).

“Duke Students Walk Out of Jerry Seinfeld’s Speech Amid Wave of Antiwar Protests” (NBC News).

“Seinfeld’s Speech at Duke Commencement Prompts Walkout Protesting His Support for Israel” (Reuters).

“Duke University Students Walk Out on Jerry Seinfeld’s

Commencement Speech’” (Fox News).

“Anti-Israel Students Walk Out of Duke Commencement to Protest Jerry Seinfeld” (Breitbart News).

In other words, 30 protestors captured the headlines, not Seinfeld and the 7,000 who heard his speech.

“The airing of grievances at Duke was not notable for the number of people who participated, or for any insight offered on Gaza, or for even a remote prospect of affecting the conflict,” wrote reporter Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic. “To the credit of the students who walked out, it didn’t even disrupt the speech. A protest in and of itself does not confer importance.”

Journalists covered recent protests at New England, New York and California colleges. Our readers and viewers, despite how they might feel about the protests, would not expect us to ignore them.

I cut my own journalistic teeth in the South in the waning days of KKK influence. We attended their cross burnings and talked with law enforcement about Klan motives but published nothing about them. We recognized that this hate group represented a fraction of our readers. We weren’t going to be used.

The civil rights movement was a different story.

I covered the first lunch counter sit-ins and other civil rights activities. We caught heat from those who opposed desegregation and equal rights for everyone.

The current protests are well funded and organized. Their participants have been taught what to say and do, including hiding their faces and ignoring questions.

The Seinfeld speech and its walkout has been skillfully used as propaganda. Have we allowed ourselves to be brainwashed — or sucker punched — by protesters looking to use us for their own political purposes?

Jerry Bellune is a newspaper owner and editor who reported from the Middle East, the United Nations and Washington before retiring in South Carolina.