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To the Editor: 

My nine year old son and I were at the demonstration against the war in Iraq on Saturday in San Francisco. It was astounding, with apathy at appalling rates, to see so many thousands of individuals show up for anything. This was not just students or young people; there were lots and lots of families, young and old, brown, black, white and every color under the rainbow. When I said to a friend, “This is amazing,” she answered, “Yes but will the media cover it?” And I thought, “Of course they will.” 

Generally, I'm am very cynical about things, but I thought (mistakenly) that there was no way the media could ignore these numbers protesting our government’s war policy. I’m astounded I could have been so naive and so wrong. Where was most of the media? The demonstrations involved over 100,000 people in Washington D.C., and 50,000 in San Francisco, and concurrent events throughout Europe in the pouring rain. There was no real main stream reporting and, even when it was mentioned, no analysis. 

It saddens me, almost as much as our government's war policies, to realize that if these demonstrations had not been peaceful and nonviolent, they would have been considered newsworthy. When was the last time that many folks have turned out for any one event? 

Ann Lehman 

El Cerrito