There is no “the media”

Tanya Ott
5 min readJan 14, 2021

By now you’ve probably seen the photo and possibly the video of rioters casually strolling out of the U.S. Capitol waving flags, smiling, and taking photos of the words etched into the door.

By now you might have also seen this in your Facebook feed or on a neighborhood chat board:

Remember in 2011 when tens of thousands of Democrats surged on the Wisconsin Capitol building in Madison and physically occupied it for more than two weeks? We were told, “This is what democracy looks like.”

Remember in 2016 when Obama was President and hundreds of BLM blocked interstate highways and violently accosted police (even killing several)? We were told, “To assign the actions of one person to an entire movement is dangerous and irresponsible.”

Remember in 2018 during the Kavanaugh hearings when a mob of Democrats stormed the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, and pounded their fists in rage on the door. We were told, “It’s understandable.”

Remember this summer’s riots in major cities across the country when groups of Democrats marched in the streets, set buildings on fire, looted businesses, assaulted and even killed bystanders and police? We were told, “These are mostly peaceful protests.”

Remember when Democrats seized several blocks of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in

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Tanya Ott
Tanya Ott

Written by Tanya Ott

I tell stories. Most are true. Some are not. Bylines include NPR, Marketplace, Deloitte Insights & Following Harriet podcasts. Trying to finish PhD & novel.

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