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| The Occupy Oakland Research Working Group is an independent research committee of volunteers dedicated to the self-determination of local communities. The research committee for Occupy Oakland has three goals:
We meet every week on Sundays, from 5:00 to 7:00pm. For more information, email research@occupyoakland.org. Below are some of our findings. Public Poll Finds 94% Support Occupy OaklandContacts: Occupy Oakland Research Committee occupyoaklandresearch@gmail.com http://occupyresearch.net/oakland Thursday, February 16, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oakland, CA — According to an online poll conducted by the Bay Area News Group (BANG) Occupy Oakland enjoys overwhelming popular support. The poll, conducted online and published in the Oakland Tribune print edition on Saturday February 11, 2012 asked readers: “Do you support Occupy Oakland?” Out of a total of 10,826 responses, 94% answered yes. The Oakland Tribune conducts similar polls weekly as part of their “Talk Back” feature. An image of the poll results from the print edition of the Tribune is available online at http://tinyurl.com/oo94approval . The online poll was available on the BANG main website www.insidebayarea.com where only one response per participant was permitted. Letters on the topic could be submitted by email, fax, or US mail, and the poll was open a total of five days. Accompanying the bar graph showing 94% support, the Oakland Tribune print edition featured eleven letters, with seven (64%) against Occupy Oakland and only four (36%) in support. Was this a fair and balanced portrayal of opinions given the poll results? “It seems to be a case of good news about Occupy not fitting the mainstream media narrative,” said Eric Anderson of the Occupy Oakland Research Committee. On January 30th, the Bay Area News Group published an editorial against Occupy Oakland’s January 28th action, stating “Occupy Oakland has lost its way… we’re certain the community has run out of patience.” The online “Talk Back” web page http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_19937254 did not publish the poll results, but instead only displayed the eleven letters. Those who did not see the print edition would miss the poll results showing overwhelming support for Occupy Oakland. “Mainstream media has consistently portrayed Occupy Oakland and the broader Occupy movement as losing public support,” stated Sarah Thomason of the Occupy Oakland Research Committee. “This has been repeated so often that it has become represented as fact, until contradicted by the actual results of this poll.” Similarly, there was a charge that Occupy Oakland was hurting local businesses, until a survey of local businesses found 80% of 106 shops within two blocks of Oscar Grant Plaza reported a positive or neutral impact from the encampment. In another instance, Police Chief Howard Jordan worried in email to Mayor Quan about how to share the good news of a 19% crime reduction in downtown Oakland during the Occupy encampment. This fact directly contradicted Quan, the City Council, and Oakland Chamber of Commerce’s claim that Occupy Oakland was causing an increase in crime. Yvonne Yen Liu of the Occupy Oakland Research Committee says the repeated misrepresentation of the movement is systematic in the mass media: “The Oakland Tribune is a corporation that serves other corporations through the advertising business model. The Tribune receives ad revenues from banks such as JP Morgan Chase. The Occupy movement has highlighted the concentration of vast wealth and power within the US banking and finance sector. The Tribune has a conflict of interest with respect to the money it receives from the One Percent for ads, and the image corporate media project as serving the public interest. The Occupy movement has demanded prosecution of banking fraud and vocalized opposition to bank bailouts. The Oakland Tribune cannot serve two conflicting goals: serving the profit-motive interest of banks through advertisements, while publishing news about Occupy Oakland. Initial Occupy Oakland Research Survey Results Show that Occupy Served The PeopleFor Immediate Release February 1, 2012 Contact: Occupy Oakland Research Working Group Sarah Thomason (510) 725-9811 Yvonne Yen Liu (510) 371-5710 OAKLAND, CA - As the Oakland City Council voted Tuesday night to layoff 80 city workers (eliminating 105 positions) and cut $28 million to already less-than minimal City services, the Occupy Oakland Research Working Group released initial survey results that show the Occupy Movement provided food, healthcare, and other social services to Oakland residents in three months. “Oakland is spending millions to prevent Occupy from providing vital services to Oakland residents when they need it most. These funds should be used to prevent further cuts to schools and social services, instead of being wasted on the violent repression of activists and community members who are trying to fill in the gaps where local government has failed.” said Sarah Thomason, member of Occupy Oakland Research Working Group and graduate student at University of California, Berkeley. Over the past four years, Oakland has slashed $97 million from its General Purpose Fund, and $34.2 from other sources, cutting transitional kindergarten and adult education programs, reducing library services by one day each week, eliminating the senior shuttle and elderly nutrition programs, among other cuts, and laying off 277 City workers. Initial survey results from Occupy Research show that:
Meanwhile, the City continues to spend $155 million each year, 40% of the City’s general purpose fund, on Oakland’s true outside agitators, the Oakland Police Department. Most of this spending has no positive impact on the city’s local economy because 93% of Oakland’s police officers lived outside of the city. As of January 23, 2012, the City spent an additional $3 million or $50,000 a week to have 100 officers--20% of the city’s total patrol force--on hand at Oscar Grant Plaza. According to an email obtained by KTVU from Oakland Police Chief Jordan to Mayor Quan’s office, the crime rate in Oakland fell 19% in the last week of October when the Occupy movement was violently evicted from Oscar Grant Plaza and organizers abused by the police, including Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen. “Not sure how you want to share this good news,” wrote Jordan. “It may be counter to our statement that the Occupy movement is negatively impacting crime in Oakland.” “Instead of spending millions to police the people, the city should be paying attention to the real outside agitators: the Oakland Police Department. Only 7% of OPD live in our city and yet they abuse our residents when we try to care for our community. It is the police and the interests of the 1% that the city officials should be concerned about,” said Yvonne Yen Liu, a policy researcher at a nonprofit think tank and a member of the Occupy Oakland Research Working Group. ### The Occupy Oakland Research Working Group is an independent research committee of volunteers dedicated to the self-determination of local communities. If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with the Occupy Oakland Research Working Group, please call Yvonne Yen Liu at (510) 371-5710 or e-mail us at OccupyResearchOakland@gmail.com or visit: http://occupyresearch.net/oakland. ###END### Resources
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