WIP News Service covered May Day 2008 on extremely tight deadline, but the story which was published in May’s WIP seriously departed from the mission statement of Works in Progress, from human values, and from advocacy for justice.

The piece was published without an individual byline, but clearly argues in favor of the act of throwing rocks at events such as May Day. I quote: “Some will rightly point out that tactics need to be escalated…” “Anybody who is swayed against our cause by seeing people fight back was … never on our side in the first place.” These quotes are from an imaginary discussion with 20 imagined “anti-imperialists.” They are laid out in argument, counter-argument style in a common form of propaganda called false equivalence. The arguments are presented side by side as if they are equally valid, and the piece does not openly state that one or the other view is correct, except in its choice of the phrase “…rightly point out..” and “…our side,” as if we the readers are on the side of those who threw these rocks. The good intentions of those who threw rocks are also assumed by the author, opening the question of whether the author participated in this act.