Bay Area Anti-War Protests Go High-Tech

Jan. 11 - KGO (KGO) -- The president has a long way to go before he wins the country's support for his new Iraq policy. An ABC News poll taken after he spoke last night shows 61 percent oppose a surge of troops; CBS puts the figure at 50 percent; the Associated Press puts it at 70 percent. People are coming up with new methods of showing their opposition.

There were more then 30 war protests organized today in the Bay Area alone. How did we find about the protests? The same way that everybody else did -- through internet organizing, which has changed the way people gather.

At noon today, dozens of people gathered outside San Francisco's City Hall to protest the president's plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq.

Nicola Drake found out about the demonstration only hours before.

Nicola Drake, Protester: "About mid-morning today one of the women in our law firm sent around an email from the Democratic Party and our firm decided that we would all come outside here, we work nearby."

It's called viral emailing.

Stephen Neil, American Friends Service Committee: "I can send an email out to maybe 250 people; they in turn will send it out to their list."

This helps mobilize hundreds and sometimes thousands of people within days or even hours.

Marian Chatfield-Taylor is on several political lists. She says organizing demonstrations today is a far cry from the Vietnam era.

Marian Chatfield-Taylor, Protester: "No, it would have been a phone call for something that was going to happen next week or next month and you would have to make sure you called all your neighbors and send out postcards -- so this is pretty quick."

Some even use text messaging while at the demonstrations to alert others. The latest technology also allows protesters to post the video on YouTube -- to document the event and generate excitement.

Stephen McNeil, American Friends Service Committee: "You really won't get a sense, through the national media, of hundreds of small protests that are occurring in neighborhoods out in Hayes Valley for instance, where anyone can organize 10 or 14 people to come together."

To find the nearest demonstration there are a few websites where you type in your zip code, giving you all the protests in your area. Most of the signs used today were downloaded from a website and printed.

Technology has changed the way protests are mobilized, yet the message has not.

Marian Chatfield-Taylor, Protester: "I'm sad about why we have to do this. I would wish to spend my lunch hour doing something else, but I am very grateful for the technology and the people organizing it."

A very popular website being used by protestors is www.moveon.org.

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