Media Coverage of April Days of Action Against Drones

The April Days were off and running when the Guardian reported on March 27:

Military bases, universities and companies involved in Barack Obama's drones programme are to be targeted in a month-long series of protests by activists keen to build on the renewed public focus over the president's controversial policy.

Dubbed "April Days of Action" by participants, organisers are hoping to capitalise on a series of recent controversies that have thrust the use of drones – especially when it comes to targeted killings of suspected terrorists – into the heart of American political debate.

(The Guardian: Anti-drones activists plan month of protest over Obama's 'kill' policy)

Since then, press reports have increased daily. Other highlights have included:

U.S. News & World Report: Activists Organize Nationwide Series of Drone Surveillance Protests

Russia Today video on Youtube: Eye in the Sky: Protests against drone use hit New York

Truthout: "April Days" to Protest Drone Killing and Surveillance, Long Planned, Gets Boost From Opposition to Drone Use Inside the US

Huffington Post: Anti-Drone Activists To Protest Obama Killing Program

In These Times: 10 Signs of a Growing Uprising Against Killer Drones

Read about ALL the ways YOU can be involved 

in the April Days of Action Against Drones!

New York Times: Report the Facts on U.S. Extrajudicial Executions

On Sunday, October 14, 2012, the New York Times published an editorial by its "public editor" entitled, "Questions on Drones, Unanswered Still".  It described the lack of clear reporting on U.S. drone killings, and observed, "The Times has not been without fault. Since the article ("Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will") in May, its reporting has not aggressively challenged the administration’s description of those killed as “militants” — itself an undefined term. And it has been criticized for giving administration officials the cover of anonymity when they suggest that critics of drones are terrorist sympathizers. Americans, according to polls, have a positive view of drones, but critics say that’s because the news media have not informed them well."

Below is a letter in response to the New York Times editorial from No Drones Network.

To the New York Times Public Editor:

I would like to see the New York Times cite the claimed legal basis (an actual legal complaint, an actual plaintiff's name, an actual finding of fact in a court of law, an actual legal ruling in a court of law) for each of the drone killings it reports. Where these things do not exist, affirmatively report this fact to your readers. Discontinue the practice of printing characterizations of victims by unnamed sources and/or where there is no verifiable basis.

If the facts are properly reported, the American public will be able to recognize these killings for what they are -- extrajudicial executions -- and will see they are completely disconnected from any legitimate or legal acts that can be properly carried out by a representative of the US government.

Joe Scarry
No Drones Network
Chicago

cc:

Medea Benjamin, Code Pink
Zeke Johnson, Amnesty International
Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Nick Mottern, Know Drones
Debra Sweet, World Can't Wait