We have GOT to protest the media! Something must be done!

[Melodybe]

Should we all just show up in Atlanta and trash the CNN building, honestly what will it take?

[wurzel]

1. Reinstate the "fairness" laws.

At one time news networks were required to exercise some level of balance by law. Change the Supreme court ruling that said money is speech. Return to some kind of monopoly busting.

[Tsiyu]

2. Stop watching

Stop watching. Stop watching.

They feed off ratings. This sets their advertising rates. Without ad revenue, they flounder.

Otherwise, you can contact their sponsors and express your dissatisfaction with the coverage you receive.

I don't have cable, so I am blissfully immune from the propoganda. You have an on/off switch on your Tv, no? Use it.

[LittleApple81]

3. But aren't ratings based on "boxes" set in certain households?

If that is the case, how many of those households are represented here?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. fantastic point

I never watch network news. I get all my news from various internet sources. I evade advertising, read only the stories I want to read, and I can more quickly get news from many POVs.

[tom_paine]

6. The problem with that strategy is if we do that we abandon

Amerika to a Nazi-style media.

The originators of the FCC regulations wrote them to avoid Nazi or Soviet style media lies and unchecked lying.

Which is, I suspect, why the Busheviks have been tearing them down all these years, to pave the way for the construction of their Nazi/Soviet style Bushevik Lie Machine.

Just turning off the TV isn't enough, because modern Imperial Amerika is not dependant on human beings to run.

People turning off the TV, for the first time in our lives, will AFFECT NO CHANGE.

And I have not watched any of the Cable TV Pravda for 4 years.

But you are incorrect. We cannot abandon the field to the Sovietization of Amerikan media.

You can keep your head in the sand for a litle while longer, but eventually, as Rev Martin Niemoller predicted, it will come to you.

[Norquist Nemesis]

12. On/off switch won't affect them. Expressing dissatisfaction

is to their advertisers is the best approach.

The rates set for ads is based demand for time which is calculated as a factor of market share. In theory, salespersons can advance a position that his/her network has the higher the market share out of the competition and would command a higher price to reach a larger audience than the competition. By turning off/not tuning in to any of them you are no longer part of the market share so this has no effect on their ratings. The only thing that would affect their ratings would be switching to watch the competition.

However, expressing dissatisfaction to the advertiser has a more immediate effect because they have paid for time in the hope you will see their spot. If you're not watching and you tell them why, (especially when no insults are made to their product or judgement) they are going to take that into consideration where they're putting their advertising dollars. :)

[Tsiyu]

16. Market Share would dwindle

The rates are set ala:
Males 25-55, earning $100,000 + or
Females 12+. Just examples here....

The advertiser shops around for the station courting the most viewers in that subgroup ( who presumably will buy their product.) Ratings are debatable and skewed, but when they drop view to poor viewership, advertisers do take notice. They will shift their ads to other stations, yes, but this leaves the abandoned station either courting new viewers ( cancelling shows that are unproductive) or getting more outrageous in order to win back the viewers.

Not watching does make a difference though it is not immediate. Once the media realize that their base of dumbasses has dwindled, thay will either court a new base or become completely obsolete to the majority of Americans. So it doesn't matter what the idiots remaining watch. Get your news from the internet or foreign channels and make decisions based on that. THIS is what makes US media irrelevant, not the fact that they are still on the air spouting propoganda to the morans.

[CompassionateLiberal]

5. Agreed. Just Submitted Another Complaint to CNN

While it certainly won't solve the problem immediately, we can at least continue expressing our concern through messaging. At a minimum, it can provide an outlet for one's anger. I know it helps me (a little).

Feedback form to CNN regarding their 2004 Election coverage at:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?21

[tom_paine]

8. They have proven immune to the Voices of the People

100% totally immune. People have been sending them these messages by the thousands for years now.

And yet, in what is now a commonplace Orwellian Double-Standard, a handful of messages from some Bushevik Freepers can rock the media world, due to the amplificiation by the Bushevik Party-Loyal Sub-Media and of course fear of the Imperial Family.

But keep sending those messages, in case I am wrong.

[EndElectoral]

7. CNN's partisanship and snide remarks are getting out of control.

[tom_paine]

Expect it to get still worse after November

It's hard to remember that TODAY is the Good Old Days.

[thecrow]

9. Here's my proposal

With regards to the media:
During the final four monts leading up to the elections, if the media reports a good thing about a candidate, they MUST balance it with a good report on the other candidate.(same time length etc.)

Likewise, if they report a bad thing about a candidate, they MUST report a bad thing about the other candidate.

Of course, with the smirk in charge, that would be hard to pull off... there's only lies coming out of the WH.

[Baltimoreboy]

19. Care to define "the media"

Which part of the press do you seek to control with these rules?

[thecrow]

21. I suppose the news channels on tv

[displacedtexan]

10. I'm just as angry with the media as you are...

but I have a theory:

Even if we rant and rave, the media won't change. They are paid by corporate pirates to make sure that BushCo is presented in a favorable light whenever possible.
Ranting and raving would only make us feel better momentarily.

The best thing we can do is to elect Dems in every race in every state, and especially at the top of the ticket.

Only then can we begin to pass legislation designed to regulate the media.

If we threaten them, they will become even more defensive of BushCo, and we will never be in a position to control them.

Let's register 10-15% more Dems this year and keep BushCo from cheating.

Only then will Dems in Congress be able to do anything.

Does this ring any bells?

"Walk softly and carry a big stick."

[DNCnotDLC]

20. Yes ... except ...

Yes, electing Democrats will show the media.

Except the media loves Democrats, and hates Greens and Independents.

[porphyrian]

11. Stop Consuming Their Shit

Unplug your TV, cancel your subscriptions, and make lots of noise about it. I doubt there will be enough of an impact to make the whores come dance on our laps for a while, at least not until we have the White House, but it will make you feel like you're doing something.

[el_gato]

13. We have to build our own media infrastructure

We will never win by begging them to stop being propagandizers.
What we have to do is replace them with something better.

We have the internet but we also need to publish printed material
as well as start making inroads into audio visual media as well.

Until we replace them with something better we are going to
continue to have no voice.

[gollygee]

14. Is there a decent tv news channel or show to watch?

I keep moving from one to the other but can't find one that doesn't look at least a little like a GOP election ad.

[goclark]

15. Who are their biggest Advertisers?

If we had a list, we could contact CNN and tell them that we will boycott all of their products until we get fairness.

I believe that I see a lot of medicines advertising on CNN. What else?

[MI Cherie]

17. Free Speech TV

FSTV & LINK offer a refreshing alternative to the corporate media. A lot of independent voices and different points of view.

[leftofthedial]

18. sabotage all the hairspray factories

that will shut the Murkan media down overnight.