As Seen On Tv: The 1968 National Democratic Convention

As Seen on T.V.: The Democratic National Convention 1968

Since the invention and spread of television sets throughout the United States of America, people increasingly relied on television for news at local, national and international levels. More homes had television sets than ever before. By the beginning of the 1960s almost 87% of American households owned a television set. In 1968, about a quarter of all homes in the United States had a color television. (tvhistory.tv) Television had been around long enough to be familiar, but it was still young enough to have an impact on its audience. It could still be groundbreaking and electrifying to those watching. Party conventions were one example of an event held almost to serve the advent of this mass media. Images from all over the world could be broadcast as though it were happening in your own living room. The public trusted the news anchors to be unbiased and fair, presenting all sides of the story. However, in 1964 television news coverage began changing its faÐ*ade of non-bias. In the stories of the civil rights and peace movements, student protests, and other unrest television began to paint a very biased picture of police and authority, turning police into overbearing antagonists (St. John, 39). This was especially true in the sizzling summer of 1968 in Chicago, Illinois at the Democratic National Convention. "To some, the overt bias of the media in its coverage of Chicago was both irritating and puzzling (St. John, 62)."

The Democratic National Convention was the hot-spot to be for the summer of 1968 for anyone involved in the news industry. It was estimated that over four thousand newsmen came to Chicago to report the Convention and surrounding events, while there were about "two thousand three hundred local newsmen who held press cards issued by the Chicago Police Department (St John, 175)." Only three major television networks contributed to this considerable total of six thousand news reporters. The entire week would be broadcast live to every television set across the country. Virtually anyone could keep up with the happenings in Chicago via the television. "But the 1968 Democratic convention was less notable for its politics than for its televised display of social unrest and national disunity (pbs.org)."

Convention week began with the Festival of Life held by the Yippies in Lincoln Park. It was meant to be an alternative to the official convention where people could enjoy themselves and live. They wanted to draw attention away from the Convention and towards their demonstration. It was designed to be very theatrical, a concept essential to the vast majority of demonstrations during the week of the Democratic Convention. The Yippies, hippies and others who were protesting the war had lived a greater portion of their lives with the medium of television around than older generations. They had learned how to manipulate the mass media with theatrical actions and exciting words. The camera could not deny action and excitement when its other option was static, boring, talking heads. Abbie Hoffman perfectly expressed this fact when he said, "You got a TV set? That's a jungle. You think that gives a shit about words, lineal concepts? We get on that tube . . . we get information out, and our information is heavy, and it sticks, and it's exciting, it's alive . . . (Walker, 42)." Hoffman also once said, "I am an actor for TV (Schultz, 49)." The Yippies and other groups that arrived at the Democratic National Convention to protest knew the medium they dealt with, and clearly wanted their stories to be the focal point of the week. According to Kenneth Crawford, a Newsweek columnist, "Television, perhaps without meaning to, constantly abetted the disruptors [on the floor] by playing up their activities. In its search for interest and sensation, TV naturally concentrates on the angry minorities. Even during the extraordinary debate on Vietnam well worth the nation's attention, the cameras were not constantly on the podium. The result was a distortion that did the Democrats and their convention something less than full justice (St John, 67)."

For the protestors, there were two main reasons to cause disruptions. The first was to "rally forces sympathetic" with their cause and to get their cause's word out. The other was to "create a psychological climate of fear and uncertainty (St John, 39)."

However, the Festival of Life and any other incidents connected with the demonstrations could not be broadcast live to the audiences at home. Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago claimed it was because of an electrical strike, but some believed he simply didn't want anyone to see the disunity of the Democratic Party or the actions of the police. He wanted all eyes on the proceedings within the International Amphitheatre. Daley desired a "united and optimistic" image for the party. The images of any violence in the riots would not be seen live and would stream in after the fact. The only exceptions would be within the Amphitheatre or just outside the hotels serving as headquarters for delegates and members of the press. Some networks were uncertain of if they should use the footage coming in half an hour or more after the events they depicted (PBS).

On Sunday night, at the very beginning of the Convention week, executive director of the Convention John Criswell announced restrictions of media coverage of the Convention. Only "one mobile camera and its three-man crew plus two correspondents for each of the three TV networks" would be permitted, and there would only be two floor passes given to each radio network (Congressional, 134). Network commentators were angry about this action (St John, 66). For one, it would be more difficult to generate an interesting picture if the numbers of cameras available were so severely restricted. Not only that, but they were under the impression that Daley had deliberately brought about floor restrictions to "abort the freedom of the press (St. John, 66)."

In the days to come of the convention, there would be several demonstrations with the participants purposely taunting and provoking the policemen of Chicago. There would be beatings of demonstrators and newsmen. James Burns, an ABC newsman, had a $900 camera lens smashed and his sound men clubbed while he was being prevented from filming the arrests taking place in one of the demonstrations of the week (St. John, 38). Television and the media were proving to be decidedly on the side of the demonstrators. In several of the footage broadcasted of the rioting, the taunts of the protestors were barely audible. It often looked as though the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois National Guard were going overboard and senselessly