'Philly Daily News' Will Send 'Riot Grrrl' to GOP Convention

By: Joe Strupp When the Republican National Convention hits New York City in a few weeks, and draws an expected barrage of protests, the most unique coverage may not come from The New York Times or The Washington Post.

It may be the smaller, less-influential, and much less-stuffy Philadelphia Daily News (Click for QuikCap). Why? Simple, they've got Riot Grrrl.

From the same paper that brought you a regular column by Triple Crown contender Smarty Jones earlier this year -- and has in the past offered up subway observer Phantom Rider and cold weather columnist Auntie Freeze -- Riot Grrrl is taking the protest world by storm.

"Her assignment is to check in with the protesters and write a well-informed protest critic's view of the protest," said Kurt Heine, Daily News city editor. "A large component of it is a protest review."

Catherine Lucey, a Daily News police reporter a.k.a. Riot Grrrl, defended the columnist's name, stressing that she is not out to make problems, just write about them. "I don't think she is trying to incite riots, she just wants action," the columnist said, referring to her alter ego. "My one fear is that Riot Grrrl might get arrested."

Heine believes the GOP gathering will need more than the usual political coverage and on-sight analysis of speeches and policy. If the chanters and picketers show up in large numbers, as many believe they will, it could be another Chicago 1968.

Riot Grrrl, whose column runs with a logo of her donning a SWAT-like helmet, made her debut on June 24 with a piece about President Bush's visit to a local Baptist church in Philadelphia. But the demonstration diva did not focus on the president's message, remaining outside with the 150 or so protesters.

"The best-dressed demonstrator? A woman wrapped in a black cardboard tube with grayish cotton wool poking out the top," the columnist wrote about a woman in a smokestack costume. "Riot Grrrl liked her spunk."

In another piece, published July 16, she described a John Kerry appearance that drew some AIDS activists, whom she deemed weak in the angst department. "Kerry can't really rile up a crowd. People were seated in their chairs instead of throwing them," she penned. "It's not enough just to yell. Riot Grrrl wants to see you protest with substance and style."

So what drives Riot Grrrl and differentiates her from most reporters on the protest beat? "She covers them with attitude," said creator Lucey. "She is fair in giving everyone their say, but she is sympathetic to the protester, and the entertaining protester."

Lucey, a 25-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate who has been at the paper for two years, said the column's approach to demonstrations is a mix of humor with street-smart viewpoints and an appreciation for what protests can accomplish.

"You can write with color and flair," she said. "Everyone already knows a lot of the issues and they can get boring if you repeat them over and over again. You need something to happen, to take a different approach."

So when the GOP gathering begins Aug. 30, Riot Grrrl and Lucey plan to attend for the duration. "She will be there for all of it," Lucey promised, explaining that she did not attend the Democratic convention because it did not seem as ripe for rowdy behavior. "People are a lot angrier at the Republicans. It will have a certain angry ring that we embrace."

And after the convention, what will Rio Grrrl's future bring? "It depends on what happens," she said. "If stuff keeps happening, we will keep sending Riot Grrrl out."