Thread: Why do news media capitalize ‘Occupy Wall Street’ but not ‘tea party’?

For a two-and- a-half-year-old movement, the tea party has already left a massive imprint on American politics. No Republican contender for the presidency can afford to betray its positions against taxation, against liberalizing immigration policies, against a loose interpretation of the Constitution. Tea party backers in 2010 helped vault a number of Republican candidates into the House of Representatives, which now boasts a thriving Tea Party Caucus. Need more evidence of its mainstream emergence? Just weeks ago, CNN teamed up with Tea Party Express to sponsor a GOP presidential debate.


These milestones notwithstanding, the movement remains a pipsqueak on the copy desks of newspapers in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The challenge is one of elementary-school grammar: The tea party movement can’t get itself a pair of capital letters.



snip.



How does the AP’s copy brain trust justify this “O”? Minthorn advances a few arguments on that point:

1. “This is what these protesters call themselves.” (Just the way the tea party always has.)

2. “It seems to be a movement that has a lot of local manifestations.” (Like the tea party.)

3. “They sort of seem to share a philosophy of some sort; they have shared ideas.” (Like the tea party!)



snip.


Leave it to the New York Times, that target of right-wing ideologues, to give us a “T” and a “P.” Associate Managing Editor for Standards Philip B. Corbett articulates just why the paper treats the Tea Party properly. “Granted, it’s not a formal organization like the Republican Party. But I would think of ‘Tea Party’ as more akin to, say, a nickname than to a generic common noun. Or you could compare it to an artistic movement — we uppercase ‘Impressionism,’ though it’s not a formal organization.”


Not only does the New York Times give the tea party its due, but its solution also eliminates potential confusion. Let’s not forget that before Sarah Palin and constitutional originalism, a tea party was a gathering of people with hot drinks and finger food. “It’s not a political judgment, just a question of clarity and appearance. It seems a bit odd or distracting to refer to a lowercase ‘tea party’ — as a common noun, a ‘tea party’ is a gathering where tea is served,” writes Corbett via e-mail.

Why do news media capitalize ‘Occupy Wall Street’ but not ‘tea party’? - The Washington Post

Liberal bias at work.

Originally Posted by nonpareil

Liberal bias at work.

Heh ... grammar story

If you really did into AP style -- well, good luck figuring out the logic. Take a look at the style entry for "couple." Is it plural or singular? Is it a collective noun? Well, sometimes.

For what it's worth, I think the Times has it right. Tea Party seems to work better and prevent confusion.

But just to add some fuel to the fire: You know what else AP doesn't capitalize? ground zero

The liberal media rallies around liberal causes, and tries to discredit causes that don't conform the liberal ideology... It's really just that simple.

Originally Posted by Grim17

The liberal media rallies around liberal causes, and tries to discredit causes that don't conform the liberal ideology... It's really just that simple.

I can say with great certainty that you have no idea what you're talking about on this issue.

You are of course aware that "Wall Street" would be capitalized because it is a proper name. So what you're calling media bias is the capitalization of the word "occupy."

My guess is that "occupy Wall Street" looks funny, "Occupy wall street" is incorrect, and "oCCupy Wall StReEt" is just plain wrong.

Occupy Wall Street is commonly referred as OWS , so it is natural they capitalize it when spelled out. Plus it's relatively new. There are more than one tea party groups so unless you are stating a specific one, it would probably be incorrect to capitalize it.

Originally Posted by Grim17

The liberal media rallies around liberal causes, and tries to discredit causes that don't conform the liberal ideology... It's really just that simple.

I completely agree with that. For example a pathetic looser shoots up a school or people at a mall and its news for weeks and possibly months and the media is doing all sorts of stories of how we need to enact more anti-2nd amendment laws. But someone stops a lunatic from shooting up a place with his or her gun and at most it gets a token mention if that person is lucky and there is no why we shouldn't **** on the 2nd amendment stories.

Another example is that a unknown republican allegedly tries to solicit gay sex in a airport bathroom and its news for weeks. But a well known democrat and democrat primary candidate has an affair and it gets only a token mention. Or a New Jersey governor has an affair on his sick wife and he is a brave man for coming out of the closet and he gets to go on Opra to talk about how is a brave man for coming out for coming out the closet in a liberal state instead of a what a piece of **** he is for cheating on his wife.

Anyone who says the media is not biased is either a liar or a ****en retard.

The only people to blame for the liberal bias in American media is the conservatives for not setting up more outlets to spread their bias.

Originally Posted by pbrauer

Occupy Wall Street is commonly referred as OWS , so it is natural they capitalize it when spelled out. Plus it's relatively new. There are more than one tea party groups so unless you are stating a specific one, it would probably be incorrect to capitalize it.

Yeah ... that has absolutely nothing to do with it. Proper nouns get capitalized. Thus, Tea Party Patriots gets caps. Tea Party Express gets caps. But tea party, which is not an organization but a generic name, doesn't.

We can just dispense with the notion that capitalization means "Important" or "We Likey!!" Capitalization faciliates understanding, which is usually the goal of communication. It's not an endorsement.

I thought the OP was a joke. I can't believe people take this seriously.

The Tea Party made zero attempt to include everyone. It was a right-wing libertarian cause that was eventually hijacked by GOP shills like Sarah Palin. It tried to be neo-government and instead ended up just being a Republican offshoot. It also contained social policy perspectives that were not in agreement with most Americans.

The "Occupy" protest is inclusive of everyone and that is why it has gone global. It is also tied to economic corruption which is a more central theme than just government spending in America.

I did genuinely feel that the core Tea Party members were fed up, but they expressed it through a single lens only: the right wing. People are accusing the Wall Street protest of just being liberal populism but I don't think it is. We are seeing all kinds of people there, of all ages and causes, including unions.

I was glad that a group decided to start protesting on Wall Street. If the Tea Party did it, I would be agreeing with them. Instead, the Tea Party did stuff like protest the ground zero mosque.

If right-wingers could put aside their rivalry for a minute and see that the current protests have wider viability, we could make real progress here.