An anonymous reader was apparently triggered (quote below) by a report published about a traffic obstruction at the Ohio feeder ramp at the Kennedy Expressway (I-90) on Monday morning, October 7, 2024. The anonymous reader indicated an issue with CARDINAL NEWS reporting an issue outside the northwest suburban area, and leaving out “any mention of the 12 month Israeli genocide of Palestinains (sic).”
CARDINAL NEWS is publishing this follow-up report because there is a possibility that there are several people unnecessarily triggered by the first report, which was intended to be a traffic report, not a politically-spun report.
Yesterday, CARDINAL NEWS published a breaking news report about a protest near the Kennedy Expressway (I-90), Ohio Street and Ontario Street that was occurring about 8:00 a.m. Monday, October 7, 2024. Initially, at the breaking news level there was no indication available to indicate who the protesters were, nor the message of the protesters. Therefore, there were no allegations about who was causing the traffic obstruction in the area in the CARDINAL NEWS report.
The primary CARDINAL NEWS story was targeted or provided for commuters from the northwest suburbs who might use the Kennedy Expressway (I-90) to travel to Chicago to get to work.
Later in the morning, there was confirmation from local news sources that a Palestinian youth movement blocked the Kennedy Expressway at about 7:30 a.m. and continued to obstruct traffic until about 9:00 a.m. However, one of the leading activist groups nationwide, known as the Palestinian Youth Movement, had no mention of a Chicago event on their social media. Additionally, CARDINAL NEWS received no press announcements regarding the Ohio Street Feeder Ramp from activists on the pro-Palestinian side or the Israeli side of the conflict.
In real time (8:23 a.m.), The Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications only confirmed that there was traffic disruption at the eastbound Ohio Feeder Ramp due to protest activity. Initially there was no mention of the identity of the protesters and offenders that were illegally obstructing an expressway during rush hour.
NotifyChicago Emergency Alert: Traffic Disruption at Eastbound Ohio Feeder Ramp due to Protest activity. Seek alternate route.
— Chicago OEMC (@ChicagoOEMC) October 7, 2024
Yesterday afternoon at 12:43 p.m. an anonymous reader submitted a complaint to CARDINAL NEWS with the following message …
“Why are you reporting on this? A protest in Chicago is not the northwest suburban area The Cardinal is supposed to cover.
And it seems you conveniently leave out any mention of the 12 month Israeli genocide of Palestinains (sic), as 42,000 have been killed in Gaza in the past years, plus another 800 Palestinians over in the West Bank. Protestors are marking 1 year of this.”
There are several people that have had complaints over the geographic choice of news reports by CARDINAL NEWS over the years, and these complaints are often compounded by a political element.
Following, these two recent complaints are addressed …
COMPLAINT 1: “A protest in Chicago is not the northwest suburban area The Cardinal is supposed to cover.”
CARDINAL RESPONSE: A major traffic obstruction on the Kennedy Expressway (I-90) at the Ohio feeder ramp is a highly relevant and newsworthy event for citizens of the northwest suburbs as commuters and their friends and family could be affected by a blockage of one of the major routes to commute to the City of Chicago. In the northwest suburbs Interstate 90 cuts through Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Elgin, and so on.
Additionally, here is an excerpt from the CARDINAL NEWS “About Page” …
“The Cardinal — Arlingtoncardinal.com has become a trusted source for breaking news in Arlington Heights and Chicagoland. The news blog was founded on September 12, 2001 as part of Arlingtoncards.com, which was founded in 1999 …
The Cardinal (CARDINAL NEWS) provides mostly short news stories with original content, original video, and original photos. The Cardinal also functions as a news aggregation website with video, feeds, summaries and links to other news sources from Chicagoland and around the world.”
Additionally, coercing CARDINAL NEWS to direct what is supposed to be published is counter to our Civil Rights, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Thought, etc.
Also, our radio scanner-based site FIREMAPCHICAGO.NET covers all of Chicagoland, regularly — clearly indicated by the namesake, and prominently positioned with three of the most recent articles embedded on the front page of CARDINAL NEWS — Arlingtoncardinal.com every day.
There is no authority that tells CARDINAL NEWS what news stories to choose to publish. Editorial choice is based on years of experience of market content demand, interests, and other forms of relevance.
COMPLAINT 2: Conveniently left out “any mention of the 12 month Israeli genocide of Palestinains (sic), as 42,000 have been killed in Gaza in the past years, plus another 800 Palestinians over in the West Bank. Protestors are marking 1 year of this.”
CARDINAL RESPONSE: The article did not leave out any mention of the Palestinian’s side of the story: “Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Chicago ahead of the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Two people were arrested in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.”
YESTERDAY’S FIRST REPORT …
Chicago police officers and Illinois State Police troopers responded about 8:07 a.m. Monday, October 7, 2024 to a report of protesters blocking the off ramps and on ramps near I-90, Ohio Street and Ontario Street in Chicago.
Protests, vigils, memorials, mourning and other events in the Chicago area have been planned by activists in recognition of the first anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel, which started the Israel-Hamas war.
October 7 will forever be a day of mourning for the Jewish community.
Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Chicago ahead of the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Two people were arrested in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.
DEVELOPING …
The information in this article is an early report published before any summary information was confirmed or released by police or fire authorities.
Stay informed with news from The Cardinal’s Emergencies Behind the Scenes Facebook page — Facebook.com/CardinalEmergencies. Includes links to favorite public safety and emergency rescuers and product manufacturers and safety companies that have facebook pages. Submit your pictures or just stay up-to-date on with fire, rescue, EMS and police photo galleries. Please add your public safety photo to the wall album — go direct to the Arlington Cardinal Emergencies Behind the Scenes photos. For a list of all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages, go to Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
Help fund The Cardinal Arlingtoncardinal.com/sponsor