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July 1, 2011
Opinion: Don’t Let Atlantic Yards Developers Control the Narrative
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
by Michael Galinsky
Speaking of circuses — Battle for Brooklyn filmmaker and regular contributor to The Local Michael Galinsky weighs in on the Atlantic Yards media circus.
Yesterday I was quoted in a The New York Times article about a new benefit that the Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner is touting. Bruce Ratner and the Brooklyn Academy of Music plan to partner on big-spectacle art events at the Barclays Center. I was asked how I thought the community would react.
What struck me, however, was the fact that once again the developer was putting out a story that would show them in a good light, and that any questions about their position were relegated to the end of the article. I was pleased that I was given the chance to discuss the issue, but saddened to imagine that the concerns of the community would be buried below the fold, and that the pattern of the developer controlling the narrative would go on.
...When something was happening that the developers couldn’t control, such as the 2006 environmental impact hearing, they trotted out some Nets basketball players and held a press conference in a government building (that they built) across the street from the impact hearing. I was prevented from shooting that conference, as you can see in the clip above.
This press conference seemed to be more about distracting the media from the real discussion that was taking place across the street. By trotting out several basketball stars, the publicity company was able to get the “credentialed media” to pay less attention to the discussion about the environmental impacts of the project. Because they didn’t feel that they could trust what I would do with the footage — I was not credentialed or working for a mainstream news organization — I was shut out. I think their concern was that I might not stay on message.
Posted by eric at July 1, 2011 10:12 PM