NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Here’s how the media are viewing the once-hottest news story: Occupy Wall Street is 99% dead.

In the first phase of Occupy Wall Street, journalists were dazzled by the spirit and the anger of the participants. For a brief, flickering moment, the idea of rallying as an economically aggrieved 99% of the population had terrific potential.

Reporters trekked to Zuccotti Park to observe the latest link in the chain, advancing from the anti–Vietnam War protests of the ’60s and ’70s to the anti-nuclear-power demonstrations that followed them.

Now we’re seeing the lamentable second wave of the Occupy Wall Street story. The spirit has been muffled by people who want to cash in on the popularity of Occupy Wall Street and exploit the participants’ idealism.

Occupy Wall Street protesters take cover against snow in Zuccotti Park. Reuters

Sure, the crowds of supporters and sympathizers will continue to gather at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, the starting point for what became a global movement. And, yes, similar groups will congregate elsewhere around the world. You can be sure that this news story will rank prominently in those year-end retrospective pieces.

I wrote in this space a few weeks ago that Occupy Wall Street would become corrupted by big business, which would exploit the popularity of the movement to sell blue jeans, T-shirts and beer. I wasn’t far off.

We’ve heard rumblings that MTV’s VIA, -8.46% “Real World“ is scouting people between the ages of 20 and 24 for a series with an Occupy Wall Street theme.

In another sign that Occupy Wall Street is ripe for exploitation, there is actually a website called Hot Chicks of Occupy Wall Street.

Further, the Associated Press has noted that some in the movement are attempting to trademark the phrase “Occupy Wall Street.” Some of the leaders “filed an application Oct. 24 to trademark the name of their movement with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.” The source of the information was one of the group’s lawyers.

Occupy prepares for winter

The media, serving as a proxy for the general population, are impatient and bored by what outwardly seems like a marked lack of progress.

No less an authority on American social movements than folk singer Joan Baez, a notable dissident during the eras of the Vietnam and nuclear protests, said: “I’ll be convinced when it develops a real direction. ... So far it’s hard to tell.”

The only time someone gets excited about the protests these days is when some external force intervenes, such as when New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg attempted (unsuccessfully) to clear the park, purportedly to clean it.

In a 24/7 news cycle, interest wanes quickly. Occupy Wall Street couldn’t, or wouldn’t, hold journalists’ attention.

We now cover Occupy Wall Street the way we handle the daily weather report, traffic and rail reports — dispassionately, briefly and by rote. For the media, the excitement has gone out of the story.

MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you think Occupy Wall Street’s moment in the sun has passed or am I being shortsighted?

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