Changes

=== Mainstream media ===

=== Mainstream media ===

[[File:MSMbyTEA.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Attitude of Tea Party Movement participants toward four MSM outlets]]

[[File:MSMbyTEA.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Attitude of Tea Party Movement participants toward four MSM outlets]]

Coverage by the [[Mainstream Media]] of the Tea Party events has been lacking, both in quantity and in quality. The three traditional broadcast networks ([[ABC]], [[CBS]], [[NBC]]) have attempted to discredit these events as corporate-sponsored or sponsored by the [[Republican Party]] and other conservative or reactionary groups.<ref name=baker>Baker B, "[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2009/04/16/abc-cbs-nbc-try-discredit-tea-party-protests ABC, CBS and NBC Try to Discredit 'Tea Party' Protests]," ''NewsBusters'', 16 April 2009. Accessed September 16, 2009. Baker does a side-by-side comparison of coverage of the Tax Day Tea Parties and of several pro-immigration rallies held on 1 May 2006.</ref> Furthermore, several news anchors working for [[CNN]] and [[MSNBC]] coined the phrase "tea-baggers," a crude term used to slur [[conservatives]] and of which has an off-color connotation as an attempt to mock Tea Party Movement leaders and participants.<ref>Michael Patrick Leahy. [http://www.tcotreport.com/obamaslur.html In Pep Talk to Democrats Yesterday, Obama Used Crude Term to Slur Conservatives], ''[[The TCOT Report]]'', November 8, 2009.</ref>  

Coverage by the [[Mainstream Media]] of the Tea Party events has been lacking, both in quantity and in quality. The three traditional broadcast networks ([[ABC]], [[CBS]], [[NBC]]) have attempted to discredit these events as corporate-sponsored or sponsored by the [[Republican Party]] and other conservative or reactionary groups.<ref name=baker>Baker B, "[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2009/04/16/abc-cbs-nbc-try-discredit-tea-party-protests ABC, CBS and NBC Try to Discredit 'Tea Party' Protests]," ''NewsBusters'', 16 April 2009. Accessed September 16, 2009. Baker does a side-by-side comparison of coverage of the Tax Day Tea Parties and of several pro-immigration rallies held on 1 May 2006.</ref> Furthermore, several news anchors working for [[CNN]] and [[MSNBC]] coined the phrase "tea-baggers," a crude term used to slur [[conservatives]], which has an off-color connotation attempting to mock Tea Party Movement leaders and participants.<ref>Michael Patrick Leahy. [http://www.tcotreport.com/obamaslur.html In Pep Talk to Democrats Yesterday, Obama Used Crude Term to Slur Conservatives], ''[[The TCOT Report]]'', November 8, 2009.</ref>  

In fact, Tea Party organizers are ''not'' affiliated with the Republican Party, nor do they accept any funding or especially any advice, let alone orders, from the Republican Party, the [[United States]] [[Chamber of Commerce]], or any industry trade association or similar group.<ref name=personal>Personal voucher by [[User:TerryH]], who is a member of the Morristown Tea Party Organization, Morristown, New Jersey. <http://themorristownteaparty.org/></ref>

In fact, Tea Party organizers are ''not'' affiliated with the Republican Party, nor do they accept any funding or especially any advice, let alone orders, from the Republican Party, the [[United States]] [[Chamber of Commerce]], or any industry trade association or similar group.<ref name=personal>Personal voucher by [[User:TerryH]], who is a member of the Morristown Tea Party Organization, Morristown, New Jersey. <http://themorristownteaparty.org/></ref>