The Chicago media–much like the mainstream media in the rest of the country–has largely ignored the true origins of the Occupy demonstrations, and has failed to hold organizers accountable for the violence and bigotry of some of their members.

It ought to be newsworthy, for example, when individuals under investigation by the FBI for terrorism lead a sit-in outside the mayor’s office. But that fact was ignored by media reports in Chicago and elsewhere.

One of the notable exceptions to the pattern of willful blindness about Occupy in the mainstream media is investigative reporter Chuck Goudie of local ABC affiliate WLS-TV (channel 7). In a report filed on October 19, Goudie described the origins of the Occupy movement–from Adbusters in Canada, to anarchist Lisa Fithian in Texas, to the numerous hard-core radicals who have flocked to demonstrations and courted arrest.

In another report, which aired on October 26, Goudie explored the antisemitism on display at Occupy Wall Street and numerous Occupy demonstrations, including a protest in Chicago where an Occupy activist called for the destruction of the State of Israel.

These are the simple, glaring truths about the Occupy movement that its media allies and political patrons refuse to acknowledge.

Occupy organizers have refused to condemn the radicalism and bigotry on display, using their ostensibly “leaderless” structure to evade accountability–and the media has largely given them a pass. Even when Occupy activists have physically assaulted journalists, the media has been at pains to stress that the actions of a few individuals should not be taken to define the whole movement:

Chuck Goudie deserves to be commended for his courage and professionalism. His example ought to encourage other journalists to stop covering up for Occupy, and start telling Americans the truth.