The backroom nature of the WTO debates, as well as the breakdown in negotiations between developed and developing countries, made covering the official proceedings difficult for mainstream and independent journalists alike. Turner edited the World Trade Observer, an eight-page daily paper put out during the Seattle summit. Published by Earth Justice, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the International Forum on Globalization, and Public Citizen, World Trade Observer sold out 10,000 copies daily and its web edition drew more than 48,000 readers from 48 countries. On the day protesters effectively shut down the opening of the WTO, they shut many journalists out of the convention center as well. That left the journalists no alternative but to cover what was happening in the streets.
Most media critics acknowledge that mainstream coverage was mixed.
While Time, Newsweek, and The Economist cheered on free-trade policies and characterized protesters as naive or dangerous, the San Jose Mercury News compared the protesters to Rosa Parks and the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott that catalyzed the civil rights movement. Media activists are not resting on their laurels, however. The Independent Media Center is working with local groups in Philadelphia and Los Angeles that would like to set up similar operations for the Republican and Democratic conventions this summer. It's the flip side to corporate communication. She co-hosted World Trade Watch Radio from Seattle.