Erstellt am: 5. 10. 2011 - 15:11 Uhr

US Media finally notice the "Occupy Wall Street" movement

Reality Check: Greece 24 hour strikes, Syria's protests making ground slowly, Occupy Wall Street ignored in media, Bulgaria anti-Roma protests, Apple's super hype i-phone.

The Occupy Wall Street Protest Movement is disgruntled about a great many issues affecting the poor and middle class in the United States. Corporate greed, low tax rates for the rich, unaffordable health insurance, the intricate relationship between big business and big government, the mortgage system, the banking systems, and a host of other money-related topics.

Well, the OWS protesters have yet another complaint: the lack of attention they are receiving from the mainstream media. They say, if it wasn’t for citizen journalism, the OWS Protest Movement would be the ‘What Protest Movement?’ for most Americans.

So the $100 million dollar question is, “Why has the US mainstream media virtually ignored the protests?” The networks themselves say it's because of the low numbers of protesters and their unclear goals and messages. However, some people suspect it is more about money, and say the news corporations don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them. They say especially ‘conservative’ news corporations are loathe to expose the police brutality and not-so-freedom-of-expression-y footage to be found on Wall Street these days. The OWS Protest Movement may be the beginning of a people’s revolution that could rock the boat and this makes people nervous (especially rich people). So how to deal with pesky commoners who want their fair share of the pie? Belittle them, squash them, and ignore them. Well, if that was the idea, it isn’t working anymore thanks to cheap digital cameras, youtube, and an increasing anger amongst the common people. It seems mainstream media have taken note and are starting to change partners when it comes to providing fair and unbalanced news AND making money.

Unprecedented 24 hour strike in Greece

After a few months of quiet after the massive anti-austerity protests earlier this year, Greeks are on the streets again demonstrating against the further austerity measures the government is imposing to secure the EU bailout. This time, even the air-traffic controllers are on strike, hitting at the country's valuable tourism industry. Our Athens correspondent, Mark Lowen, reports on the unrest and its implications.

Syrian protests making slow progress

The UN Security Council failed to pass a motion which had the potential for sanctions to be imposed on Syria for it's brutal crackdown on protesters. However, the protests continue, fuelled largely by young people who are now the driving force behind the anti-government movement. Senay Özdenis an expert on Syria from Koc university in Istanbul in Turkey, and is in close touch with opposition figures in Syria. She gave Joanna King her analysis of the current situation.

Protests in Bulgaria signal escalating anti-corruption anger

A wave of anti-Roma protests that have swept Bulgaria are less to do with ethnic tensions and more about public anger at corruption, according to Ogyan Zlatev, the director of the Media Development Centre in Sofia. He told Elizabeth Alcock that frustration with the lack of justice and functioning government systems has reached boiling point, and will be reflected in the elections later this month.

The Apple hype

People eagerly awaiting the launch of the i-phone 5 were disappointed when it turned out to be an i-phone 4s. Daniel Sokolov of CT magazine discusses the Apple cult following and the future of the smart-phone with Steve Crilley.

FM4 Reality Check

Monday to friday from 12 to 14, and after the show via Podcast or fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.