Media rules

This past Saturday, thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands, of people including a number of local government officials gathered on the Ellipse opposite the White House for a "No Room for Poverty" rally to call on both major-party presidential candidates to address growing poverty in the US. It also marked the 40th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson's declaration of a "War on Poverty" in 1964.

What, you didn't hear about it?

That's not surprising, I guess, since as far as I can tell it was subject to a virtually complete media blackout. And no, I didn't make it up. This is from the Morning Call of Allentown, PA for Sunday:

Washington, D.C. - Thousands of people from around the country, including 1,500 from Pennsylvania, packed the Ellipse on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, calling for legislation to reduce the country's growing poverty. ...

The rally was organized by the Community Action Partnership, the network of nonprofit agencies established under the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act to run anti-poverty programs.

More than 30 other groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Council of Churches, were partners in the event.

The event, dubbed "No Room for Poverty," was the first anti-poverty rally in Washington since President Lyndon Johnson signed landmark legislation 40 years ago to attack the problem.

For confirmation, there's this from the Grand Island (NE) Independent, again for Sunday:

On Saturday, thousands from across the country marched in the No Room for Poverty Rally in Washington, D.C. Most were part of Community Action Associations, or groups that help build communities, serve families and advocate opportunities for low-income people. The walk included several representatives from Nebraska, and even those who weren't able to attend are taking up the fight.

And beforehand, there were reports from Minnesota, Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon, and California about people who were going.

So there's no question it happened and independent reports say that thousands took part. But I can't find a single report about it beyond those above. AP didn't breathe a word. Nor did Reuters or CNN. Neither our "paper of record" nor the Washington Post could be bothered with it.

It does give you a sense of what they really regard as important, doesn't it?