Right-wing organizers hoped 15,000 people would attend a Centennial Olympic Park rally this weekend to yell and scream about health care reform. In the end, just one-fifth of that showed up.

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Atlanta police estimated the crowd in Centennial Park at about 3,000 -- far short of organizers' goal to draw a crowd of 15,000

Yet in its write-up of the event, the Journal forgot to mention how the crowd was disappointingly thin. The Journal drew no inference from the fact that organizers failed so badly in bringing out a larger crowd. Instead, the Journal pretended the modest event was significant and, of course, newsworthy; that it was important to document how a relatively small crowd of Obama critics showed up in a park to wave signs.

It's funny, but back in 2003, I don't remember the Wall Street Journal's news team devoting stand-along articles when anti-war protesters gathered in small numbers (let alone large numbers) in cities across the country. Instead, I think the Journal's current coverage highlights a longtime newsroom edict: angry conservatives are newsworthy, angry liberals are annoying.