In my home city the OWS movement denigrated into a homeless encampment with a handful of banners and sign waivers. I don’t think a neoliberal media was the culprit because from the beginning the local movement lacked any sense of cohesion or the coordination required to exert pressure on local politicians. The righteous anger burned bright for a few months then slowly faded and nothing really came of it. I distinctly remember a lack of a figurehead and a lack of specific reform they wanted to get people to support.

Same experience here. I lived in Portland at the time and was sympathetic to the cause. But then seeing the protest devolve and turn the Park Blocks into a sketchy homeless encampment really made it difficult to support the cause. The media didn’t have to twist anything, the results spoke for themselves. Your average person is not going to support something that turns their parks into shanty towns.

Without the media portrayal, at the time I thought OWS was a broken movement with no goals and no hope of changing anything. That's having gone there and having friends that stayed.

It was a bunch of people against something vague but with no real agenda. Soon enough it changed from anger at wall st to anger at the cops saying they couldn't camp there. Nothing was accomplished.