Should Dems ask/complain for fairness from the media?

[gulliver]

One thing I wish the Dems would do is make a big stink about fairness. When a negative story about Kerry emerges from the GOP attack machine, anyone who carries it should be obliged to air the Dem response. Dem leaders should make it their business that the media police itself in this election.

We can't get the Fairness Doctrine back, but the media are very sensitive to loud complaints from political leaders. If accusations of media unfairness become part of the 2004 election story, the media will respond. Stories will start to be written with balance and will include more Democratic response.

Karl Rove needs unfair media. He has to be able to hit the airwaves with a lying smear every day and count on the media not to investigate it and not to cover the Democratic response. We need to get the media to observe some basic rules of fairness. Then Karl's $200 million worth of lies and distortions will turn into $400 million of free Dem publicity for setting the record straight.

[boobooday]

1. They have a corporate "frame"

The media will not be a trustworthy watchdog again until somebody with some guts gets in the White House, boots Michael Powell off to monitor communications on Mars, and smashes these media conglomerates with a giant hammer into thousands of local and regional companies/entities.

Then, and only then, will we have a free market of ideas.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[grasswire]

2. Paul Begala...

...has begged Democrats to write letters in the past. He says a hundred paper letters make a HUGE impact on a network, and affect content.

Trying to herd a hundred Democrats to write a letter is not an easy task, though.

[grasswire]

4. oh, and...

...Howard Kurtz (media critic for Washington Post) also says that raising a fuss brings change. The Pugs do it all the time. They have the press on the defensive, actually, trying not to look "liberal."

[Cat Atomic]

3. Absolutely. At every opportunity.

The myth of the "liberal media" is largely a result of the fact that right wing extremists have access to the media, while left wing extremists do not.

The debate in the media ranges from moderate to far right wing. As a result, the only people you ever hear complaining of media bias are rabid conservatives who think moderates don't go far enough.

[Moderator]

5. Locking

Rules to start discussion threads in the General Discussion forum.

...

7. Discussion topics that mention any or all of the Democratic presidential primary candidates are not permitted in the General Discussion forum, and instead must be posted in the General Discussion: 2004 Primary forum.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,
DU moderator