Monsanto marches: Not really ignored by media

A grammatically and factually wrong meme

A Facebook user named Jason Aaron Wood has a fantastic “Monsanto” meme. “Hate Monsanto? Want to make an effective viral meme?” it reads. “Try facts.”

Facts are too often absent from social media memes.

Case in point: a montage of images from the international protest against Genetically Modified Organisms that took place on Saturday. It reads: “Meanwhile the mainstream media completely ignores [sic] the global march against Monsanto in over 400 cities.”

As a former journalist and aspiring librarian, a claim like this matters to me. I have a doubly-vested interest in setting the record straight. Indeed, a search on Google disproved the claim with links to coverage by the Washington Post, USA Today and regional and local network affiliates.

Newswatch 12, an ABC affiliate, covered the protest march in Medford, Oregon. It reported a turnout of 800 people who joined their marching counterparts in more than 250 cities in 36 countries around the world.

A more accurate caption would read: “Meanwhile, March Against Monsanto organizers ignore coverage of their marches because they belie the marchers’ portraying themselves as ‘ignored’ by mainstream media.”