"Extracting the maximum profit from the news is immoral and dangerous."

[Merope215]

I met Christiane Amanpour today. She was speaking at a tea at my school, and she spoke for a long time about journalistic ethics and problems in the media, as well as her own career and experiences in it. She struck me in real life, as on TV, as a brave and extremely intelligent woman with a very strong sense of ethics and journalism as a public service.

One of the most interesting things she mentioned was the way she deals with journalistic objectivity. Since she tends to report on conflicts, she said she has developed a particular set of rules for herself. They involve giving both sides a fair hearing, but do not involve making them equal, making them morally equivalent when they are not. In Sarajevo, for instance, she said she felt it was necessary to give both sides a fair hearing, but to act as though the people killing civilians were somehow morally equivalent to their victims would have made her complicit in genocide. "And complicity in something like genocide," she said, "carries a very deep stain."

She spoke about FOX, about how its bottom line is helped because assembling talking heads in a studio requires very little money compared to sending teams to conflict regions. "We report on the news," she said, "and they talk about the news." That's not really true, of course - although from her perspective, I suppose it could be. But people at the talk asked her questions about the dumbing down of the media, and she had some interesting things to say.

Ms. Amanpour said that problems with news networks arose when they were no longer owned by journalists but by businessmen who see their main responsibilities not to the public, but to their shareholders. This is when she said that trying to make the news into a maximum-profit enterprise is not only immoral, but dangerous. A free press, she said, is absolutely critical to a free society.

Which brings me to the point of this post. She told us that in order to get better coverage - unbiased, hard news from around the world - we need to demand it from the news companies. Someone asked how. Do you know what she said?

A letter-writing campaign. Christiane Amanpour said that if we mount a massive letter-writing campaign, demanding better news and more news (rather than more talking heads), that is what CNN will deliver. It sounds to me that she, and some of the other few real journalists out there, are chafing at the bit, and that the people who decide what goes on the programming want to do the right thing but are afraid of what the public will want to see. "How many of you thought Terri Schiavo was interesting?" she asked, and when no one raised a hand, remarked, "Imagine." The story got the coverage, she said, because the companies have a tough time devoting resources to the hard news, so they have to pick the stories they think will appeal to everyone.

I don't know a lot about the news, but I'm pretty sure that Christiane Amanpour does. And she said that all we need to do - or mostly what we need to do - to fix the media is to demand better.

So what do you think, DU? We're pretty good at writing letters.

[politicaholic]

1. Ugh! I've stopped writing the media...

I go straight to the politicians. Sometimes individual journalists will get a keyboard lashing, but all in all, none of them listen to or care about anything else but the bottom line.

[rodeodance]

5. It is worth a try if ALL of DU did it--Yes it IS.

[politicaholic]

10. I've been on pretty extensive letter writing campaigns and...

the media will listen to any issue that:

A) Won't label them liberal.
B) Is old news, but they can treat it like their own "Scoop".
C) Won't get their WH/embedded correspondant de-credentialed.

That's what the rightwing has done. Gone straight after the journalist instead of gone after the perpetrator.

I know it's not useless, but don't be surprised if nothing comes out of 3000 letters.

How about this:

A group I'm associated with sent 1700 letters to the FCC citing blatant lies told as fact on Faux News. Nothing, not even a response to a single one of us.

280 letters to the FCC over Janet Jackson's breast during the Superbowl spurrs a a massive change in the decency standards for all of broadcast media.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. With all respect to Mrs Amampour

we have written letters, we have sent pleas, we have protested, we have demanded....

Thanks for the fish, I am now an Air America listener and I get my news from the BBC

If enough of us DO THIS... they believe in the market, they will get the message

Also with all respect to Mrs Amampour, she missed the CONSTITUTIONAL importance of the Shciavo Case, mostly the uncostitutional actions of the US Congress.

In other words, Ms. Amampour we are done with you, and your network... but be careful of the buzzsaw...

[Tux]

8. I recommend

http://news.google.com since they have articles from a variety of sources for stories. I can read several out of hundreds to get info on a story for most of them. And it's searchable.

[Tace]

16. Topix.net Is Good, Too

[FreedomAngel82]

19. Don't forget

http://www.truthout.org :)

[Tace]

22. And Common Dreams

http://www.commondreams.org/

And, Inter Press Service: http://www.ipsnews.net/

And, for South American coverage in particular:

http://www.narconews.com/

To name a few. : )

[lady lib]

42. And Sleep Furiously

http://nodltd.com/sleep.shtml


BTW, Nicholas Kristof has an opinion piece in the NYT today about the lack of public approval of today's news media.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/12/opinion/12kristof.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=

[Tigress DEM]

54. It will take HUGE PROTESTS (20,000 - 100,000+) to get ANY attention

Support INDY Media and tell Mainstream to say goodbye to profits and let's pick a date to tell the Mainstream Media they are obsolete.

[rodeodance]

3. i am with you-to write a real letter with an evelope and stamp. What

is the address?

[xray s]

4. I think....

Christiane needs to rally other journalists who think like she does and find a financial backer interested in forming a network that delivers real news and then tell CNN to go f*ck themselves.

[Tace]

17. World News Trust Is In The Early Stages Of Starting A TV News Network

[jean]

46. 'World News Trust' - the name is a little creepy!

[lady lib]

39. Exactly, I couldn't agree more.

I have written to CNN BEGGING them to do their jobs, reminding them that our democracy is at stake. The result? The shit that passes for news keeps getting worse as the businessmen who run CNN try to compete for FOX's viewers. Just when you think they can't crawl any lower, they manage to find a way.

[ewagner]

6. Christiane thinks it would work huh?

I wonder if it would.

I don't know how many times I've written to CNNand MSNBC telling them that I was angry or disappointed in their coverage....It must be dozens of times....

I have great respect for Christiane but I'm not sure she' right about this one.

[Terran1212]

7. She should join fstv

[Merope215]

9. See, I don't know either

I've written to them plenty of times, too. But it seemed like what she was talking about was a coordinated campaign - a real one, with lots of people demanding more balance, better stories, and more detailed coverage. And I don't know whether that would work.

I'm young and idealistic, so maybe I'm a little more optimistic than some people. I just don't know. I hope she's right. In some ways, though, she seemed like one of the last of the old journalists (even though she's not that old) trying to be a real reporter for an organization that may not really be paying attention any longer. :shrug:

[BiggJawn]

23. I don't think that would work. Wanna know why?

Because when the GOP/RNC does it (letter-writing "campaigns") we call it "Boilerplate", or "Astroturf", or sneer and say "What? MORE bullshit from a Karl Rove Blast-Fax?"

I have written letters. I don't even get replies from harried Ombudsmen calling me a pinko poopy-head. All letters do is let the "Suits" know that people are watching, listening, reading.

If i write a letter anymore, I send it to the ADVERTISERS. You can call Wolf Blitzer a Rove-Felator all you want, and he just laughs. Tell David Orreck you'd NEVER consider buying his 8-pound wonder because he's sponsoring lies and Fascism, and I guanrrantee nobody will be laughing...

Sorry, Christanne, but your Masters don't notice anything that doesn't have a $100 bill wrapped around it.

[SoCalDem]

38. Aaron Brown is the only one who even answers..

and then it's with a snarky comment or two..

You get a standard reply back.."Thanks for your input, we value comments from our viewers..blah blah blah"..

Real letters with stamps, at least are most certainly read,but even then you usually get no response..

BigNews does what BigBiz wants them to do.. that's it in a nutshell..

Christiane "went off the reservation", and she would have been gone by now if she were not of middle-eastern descent. They need her now,more than ever, and they dare not "furlough" her, but she's kept on a very short leash..

[Selteri]

37. I have written multiple times too,

still, I will continue to write intelligent letters, make sure I write phyiscal copies and I will continue to tell their advertisers that I will boycott them as well. Hitting them in their wallet is the best, though not the easiest thing to do when the country has sunk into depression.

[Doctor_J]

11. The same could be said about health care

those two sectors have been absolutely ruined by profit motive, and are two of the big reasons our empire is heading into its last act.

The airwaves belong to the public, and should serve the public.

[Doctor_J]

12. Her two points contradict each other

If the networks and whoever are driven by profits, then no amount of letter writing is going to get them to change. As long as the whore-porations are happy with the propaganda being put out, they will pony up the cash to keep it flowing.

[Merope215]

13. She implied

that the decisions about what to air and how are made by people assuming that the lowest common denominator is what they have to cater to in order to get advertising revenue. I think her point was that if people let the company know that they want better news, they'll start making decisions based on that instead. There's nothing we can do about the corporations (I mean, there is, but it's going to take a very, very long time, I think), but maybe we can make more hay out of our end of the deal.

I get most of my news online anyway. But there are many, many people out there who only watch TV. That's why we should be concerned about this, I think. And I don't know whether she's right, though I certainly hope so.

[Djinn]

20. the problem being people DON'T want better news

the vast majority of people LIKE veggie news, they know they'll never understand the complexities of (say) the Israel/Palestine issue but they CAN understand "michael jackson comes to court in his PJ's".

profit is the major factor driving news and unfortunately the people who want real news are few and far between, most commercial news outlets find that if they do increase their percentage of "real" news people turn off.

the other reason you wont ever get real news is that that would mean allowing journalists to look into ALL stories not just those that do not relate to the owners other business interests.

none of this is new - the media was ALWAYS beholden to the interests and bias' of it's owners, it's only problematic because the number of owners is rapidly shrinking

[mpendragon]

43. You are absolutely right

Look at the popularity of the news focused TV:
Fox News > CNN > PBS/NPR

MSNBC is a bit of an outlier because it isn't as veggie-taining as Fox and it isn't quite as good as the not-so-great CNN so it loses out to both.

[ccarter84]

14. i'm curious, how many have gotten responses

to their letters? I myself haven't written because I have less faith in such action when directed at corporations, but i'm curious if anyone has received any responses positive or neutral to their efforts?

[ewagner]

15. Only autoresponses

telling me that they can't reply to all...........

[nattydreds]

18. letter writing campaigns...

hmm... it seems to me that the most succesful letter writing campaigns are the most relentless. Here's my suggestion:

Get a huge e-mail list together (perhaps enlisting the support of an organization like MoveOn.org) and send everyone on the list a message similar to the one at the beginning of this thread. Include in the e-mail a form letter and ask that everyone commit to the 50cents a day to print out the letter (or a personalized variation) and mail it to CNN (or whoever) every day until they respond. Every day until they respond. And we make sure that the letters make it perfectly clear that until we get a satisfactory response, we won't stop. Can you imaging the public relations Department at CNN having bags and bags of letters dumped into their conference room every day?

If enough people agree to do something like this, I think it just might get something accomplished. Any takers? Shall we draft a letter?

[Tace]

21. My Stunted Take Is That MSM Will Never Have Journalistic Objectivity Again

They are profit-driven organizations owned by huge multi-national corporations. The open-source news movement is going to blow them right out of the water. Check out this NPR piece on the media revolution:

ANALYSIS: An Impending Period of Transitional Chaos for Media

by Bob Garfield -- All Things Considered, April 8, 2005

Network television audiences are down as cable, the Internet and a host of other new technologies emerge; and marketers are shifting their dollars accordingly. The media world faces an interim of chaos before a new order is determined. The co-host of On the Media delivers his take.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4583366

And by all means, check out worldnewstrust.org, and pitch in. Cheers, Francis Goodwin, World News Trust project manager.

[CTyankee]

24. I don't know about any one else but

when I get a chance to write just ONE letter -- a real one, not just an automated one -- it takes me a while because I want to be exact in my wording. If I thought things would change, I would join such an effort as Amanpour suggests. I will set aside the time and do it. I just wonder, however, if this is the best use of my time (which is limited as I have two part time jobs). We at DU are connected by this website. The Xtian far right is connected by organized churches, plus big infusions of cash. The other side is driven by blind ideology; we tend to be free thinkers, spread out over numerous causes and issues. That's why this is so difficult for us, but not so difficult for them, IMHO.

[KurtNYC]

25. I think what would change news coverage

is to send them footage (video). They are cash strapped? Cost conscious? Fine. Send them the damned story.

Imagine if you had tape of Abramoff making some of the comments he made yesterday in print. How could they resist using something like that? The story is on the front page of USA Today (a favored sheeple newspaper) but I haven't seen much of it on TV. A lot of sheeple still don't know who Tom Delay is (!?) -- 42% declined to answer the poll questions about Delay saying they didn't know enough about him to form an opinion.

As for writing letters to the news directors at cable news entities, I think email is cheaper and counts just as much if not more. It is far easier for them to summarize and count 1000s of emails as opposed to opening and handling the equivalent amount of feedback on paper. And for the emails, I would say as much as you can in the subject line since they may be all they read.

And in general, I think it is good when thinking about how to change the current state of american television news to keep in mind that we viewers are not the customer for cable news. The advertisers are their customers and that is who they respond to. Beyond measuring what the audience watches or doesn't watch, they really don't care about serving their audience. They care about serving the audience to the advertisers.

[ktowntennesseedem]

26. There would have to be some point at which letters are enough.

Some number of letters that would make their message louder and garner enough attention to bring about the changes we would all like to see.

Trouble is, just how many letters would be needed? Thousands? Millions? In theory it should work at some point, but in reality its not easy to persistantly make the voices of dissent heard. It takes far more effort from us to write more letters and keep writing them than it does for big business to tack on another zero after the dollar-sign.

[Pirate Smile]

52. I know people have contacted AP about a misleading Headline or

inaccurate language and it was changed rather quickly.

[Roland99]

27. Tell us something we didn't already know...

Ms. Amanpour said that problems with news networks arose when they were no longer owned by journalists but by businessmen who see their main responsibilities not to the public, but to their shareholders.


America...government of the people by the corporations.

[DemBeans]

28. I have my doubts

I've written many complaints to CNN and MSNBC. I have yet to receive a response to any of them.

It's stunning, really, that there are so many cable news networks that broadcast 24/7, but they carry so little actual news. They spend so much time on celebrity trials and shark attacks but they seldom cover the situation in Sudan or even Afghanistan, where we still have a significant number of troops. It's like the American self-obsession taken to a ridiculous extreme.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

29. Cable News and Numbers:

Have any of you ever heard Randi Rhodes say that in her time slot, she gets more listeners than CNN and Faux get combined, in the same time slot? She says it because it is true.

Cable news does not enjoy very large eyeball counts in the measured time slots, considering the number of TVs in the US. On an average news day, without a big breaking drama, 250,000 viewers in that time slot would have them excited. To use the technical terms: that ain't shit.

Right-wing media badgering orgs do very well at manipulating these cable news orgs(and network news) through web-based insta-astroturf machines. Just keep pushing the button to keep spewing the crap. Because of these malignant instrumentalities, the Bozellians have influence that far outweighs their real numbers.

We need toys like that too.

[riverwalker]

30. I think she is right

a news producer can easily delete an email. A real paper letter has more presence, is shared, taken into meetings, etc. We have word processors, printers, spell checkers, how hard can it be? Some older activists can remember typwriters, carbon paper, bottles of White-Out and a dictionary, as we hunt and peck out our letters.
I loved what Cristianne had to say.
"but to act as though the people killing civilians were somehow morally equivalent to their victims would have made her complicit in genocide. "And complicity in something like genocide," she said, "carries a very deep stain."

[CrispyQ]

51. Long ago, I read that when companies/organizations receive a

real letter (as opposed to email) it's more valid because that one person who felt so strongly to take the time to write & mail the letter represents another 10,000 people who feel the same but did not take the time. Email responses do not have the same impact.

[ooglymoogly]

31. i used to go to the cnn page and write a letter every time

wolf blitzer knelt down and preyed to bush and the gop. then i went through the list of "reporters" and self proclaimed "journalists" and marked negative except for christiane amanpour,anderson cooper,jeofry tubin and just a few others. i did this about three times a week. but there was no change. so i stopped. now i think if everybody does that it may make a diff. so i say lets hop to it, and i still think grading all the "journalists" ha ha (i laugh at this loose use of the word) is a good idea. just my opinion

[go west young man]

32. Amanpour was a good reporter but I'm not so sure anymore...

She was impressive during the earlier part of her career and her ethics are noble but since she has been working for CNN when I watch her I wonder if maybe CNN doesn't use her to boost their credibility and I wonder if after so many of years of reporting if she is willing to be a little used. If one wants to take the moral high ground in the Iraq war wouldn't they report it like Robert Fisk has done? With all humanity in mind? Fisk's reporting and writing is without a doubt the best in the world. He's the stuff legends are made of. Because he truly cares for every innocent. Writing CNN at this stage is useless. Just cancel your cable if you want to quit supporting war and bad journalism for real. The net has everything free now anyway. Try www.TV4all.com or www.webtvlist.com

[PATRICK]

33. the real grass roots situation

is that the roots are underneath a cement parking lot. It is our experience that OUR letter writing campaign with eloquent facts and huge numbers has less effect than a word form the top, from important contacts, from the editor, or even than a few misspelled fearsome threats coordinated by propagandists. It doesn't mean that we have no effect but that this kind of advice(Force us to do our job)is self-delusional at best. This is the kind of talk we get from democratic LEADERS. Make us lead by pounding the keyboard and pavement.

We are right behind you.

The payback for that disingenuous advice that implies it is our fault they are not performing the job honestly is that if WE lead, we get the news and promulgate it OUTSIDE the system and our graasroots will lead the party not fertilize it with our constant death and rotting below.

It is not a question of NOT writing letters but of recognizing that the continued resistance to such pressure is only confirming the failures of the institutions and we have better things to do- without them for the time being.

And that will deflate the power of their damn money pressures by destroying participation in the profit margin and writing blank checks every day with a little bit of whining , tolerated, ignored. I am sure this journalist is sincere and less sincere journalists believe the same nonsense. What it takes is public opinion then sponsors and networks taking a real hit and alternate news competing easily in the void. We make and take what we want for a change and they can follow, probably ineffectively. We can and are doing this, but redeeming respectable corporate news even in retrospect is now clearly insufficient. Insuperable and constant problems have festered and been revealed.

They never belonged on the pedestal they turned to great profit.

[KoKo]

49. An excellent post PATRICK. Well said...thanks...there are many here

who would agree with you with our four years of experience in contacting the media.

The Internet is the place to be. I don't even watch the crap on the cables anymore just as many others don't. Why? Because we learned that they didn't listen to letters, e-mails, phone calls the rest. I can't count all the e-mails to Wolf Blitzer (he asks you to contact him by e-mail) and never once have I seen it make any difference. We've answered polls at every alert and no matter how high the polls were for Democratic Ideals...in the end they never changed their reporting. But, it does allow them "hits" to their website which makes their advertising department all glowing and happy.

We cannot do their work for them. And the heads of GE/AOL-Time Warner and the rest don't care if their mail box is overflowing. They probably tell their secretary to toss it out. They get their money from us, but they feel no obligation unlike years ago when as Amanpour said, the folks that built the nextworks were not just "Businessmen." They were entrepreneurs but not the "bean counters" we have these days with the huge salaries, stock options worth millions and offshore bank accounts protecting it all. They answer to no one but those who will help them earn more.

[Selteri]

34. I'm with you as well, but I suggest taking it a step further.

first - Physcal letters with an email companion, printed/typewritten with a signature

second - send a copy to all their advertsers

Here is a list of CNN advertisers link

http://gogman.is-a-geek.com/WarTruthAndVideoTape/CNN_Advertisers/

That was a list I found with google, but it would be pretty simple to find or research other advertisers

third - in the letter put a CC to every single avertiser on a second piece of paper telling them that you will also boycott those companies until they decide to start giving us real and honest news again.

fourth - Keep writing, encourage everyone else you know to write that's fed up with this fake news crap.

Keep taking it to not just letters, but their wallet.

[ooglymoogly]

48. these are great links and i hope

everybody has a look and copies letters to everyone on the list. i wrote "people are noticing that the news is no longer the news but media propaganda, and that is the reason many are boycotting you as an advertiser and cosponsor of this relatively new policy of drumming down america....now as for cnbc.....thanks for the links

[Callboy]

35. something always stinks

with these guys

[tinanator]

36. drop cable and tell them thats why

cable companies lose even 10% of their revenue and the world will be your oyster.

[eek]

41. I will send at least 1 letter a day.

This thread is my motivation.

I oftentimes don't get stuff out because I'm worrying about getting it just right.

Right now being heartfelt, with urgency and persistence is the important thing.

I think I'll go with something along the lines of:

Do your job.
Report real news.
Now is not the time for distraction, puff pieces and infotainment.
Now is not the time to recite from press releases.

Report real news.
Not doing so endangers us all.

[GOPFighter]

40. A great write-up. Thanks.

Oh, if CNN only had 20 more Amanpours. Maybe someday. Many have written to CNN demanding better. It's easy to get discouraged, but who knows, without those letters CNN might have drifted even farther right than they have. I do know that letters get read, sometimes summerized, and sometimes counted, but they do have an impact.

[Catchawave]

44. Emails are fine, but they are only taken seriously if

you include your full name, address and phone number, much like you would do for a LTTE.

Also, I tend to write more positive letters, say, "I liked that segment on Countdown about....". With hopes, to see more segments like that.

Thanks for sharing your experience with Christiane, I've always been an admirer of hers.

[eek]

45. Just got this timely email re:CNN

FAIR:
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2489

ACTION ALERT:
CNN's New Boss: Progressives "Don't Get Too Worked up About Anything"

April 12, 2005

Over the years, media owners and editors have come up with different
explanations for the lack of left or progressive voices across the
media
landscape. We're told those ideas are unpopular with the public, for
example, or that leftists aren't as engaging or likeable as, say, Sean
Hannity.

The new CNN President Jonathan Klein offered another theory... Progressives aren't angry enough.
(snip)
Does Klein really think progressives don't get too worked up about
anything? If he does, that might be because he's watching too much CNN, where centrists are often booked to stand in for bona fide
progressives.
(See "I'm Not a Leftist, But I Play One on TV," Extra!, 9-10/04,
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1969 .)

But outside the CNN studios, evidence would suggest that progressives
get plenty worked up. Internet organizing groups like MoveOn.org, which advocates against Bush administration policies, attract millions of members. Hundreds of thousands of Americans marched against the Iraq war,and the 2004 Republican convention in New York City provoked massive protests. The expansion of liberal talk radio network Air America, as well as the success of the Bush-bashing documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, would also seem to suggest that there's an audience for programming from a
distinctly left-of-center perspective.
(snip)


ACTION:
Tell CNN President Jonathan Klein that the notion that progressives
don't get "worked up" is wrong-- and that if he'd allow genuine progressives
on his network more often, he'd know that.

CONTACT:
CNN President
Jonathan Klein
Phone: [phone]

As always, please remember that your comments have more impact if you
maintain a polite tone.

[Pirate Smile]

53. Relentless e-mail, letter writing and phone calling is needed.

The change won't be right away but we have all seen the media and reporters change their reporting because they are conscious of the constant RW harangue that they are biased.

Now they just report things without context - giving things the moral equivalency that Armonpour mentions.

We need a comparable response from the left.

Just like we need to fight in all 50 states for all elected positions, we need to fight to have our POV shown on all cable news channels (even Faux), newspapers, talk radio. No field or area should be abandoned to the RW.

[The Doctor.]

47. I do believe ths should be a 'Top Ten Idea of the Week'.

It would be nice if we could showcase this idea for a week rather than let it slide to the bottom of the homepage by the day and disappear.

If more DU'er were regularly exposed to this, there would be a far greater likelihood that people would act on it.

I will write a letter (e-mail and snail-mail) to the networks, as well as encourage friends and family to do the same.

Thank you for this post.

[roguevalley]

50. write those letters. keep them coming. it takes time and lots of

people doing it to make change. I will write.

[Merope215]

55. Okay, one more thing

And thanks to everyone who's been discussing it so far - I was really hoping this thread might get some good ideas flowing, and it has. Ms. Amanpour wasn't talking about making the news more liberal, and she said specifically that she wasn't trying to make a political statement. What she wanted to see stopped, it seemed, was what she called the reporting of opinion as fact.

I think it's going to be very tough to get more liberals (I mean real liberals and progressives, not the Liebermans of the world) on TV this way. Writing to someone and telling him (or her) that he or she isn't showing enough liberal and progressive viewpoints isn't going to work - remember, the GOP and its right-wing noise machine has convinced everyone that this is going on to counter the liberal bias in the media. (I don't know why they believe it, but they do.) So I don't think telling these people - who are already running scared of the RW - they need to be more liberal is going to work. I think what we should be demanding is more news. Just...more news. Fewer talking heads and less blather and more reporting. Imagine how much actual information people could be getting if CNN junked Crossfire and all the rest of that crap and went back to 24-hour news, real news. I think if we demanded that, and left the partisanship out of it, people would listen more, and it might shame them into doing the jobs they signed up to do. I think every letter we write should be about public service. About free press and its absolutely essential role in a democratic society. About journalistic integrity and honor in work well done and the awesome power and responsibility of a job that informs the people to govern themselves. That is the kind of language we should be using.

And to everyone who's posted on this thread about how TV news is worthless, well, yeah, you're right, in a lot of ways, though I still think that it can bring home stories and give them emotional impact in ways the Internet can't. But even if you do get your news online - and I do, too - keep in mind, please, that the vast majority of people in this country consider themselves informed if they watch half an hour of TV news every night, and their votes count just as much (or, actually, probably a lot more) than ours do. The dumbing-down of the national airwaves is, indeed, your problem. We owe it to ourselves and to the country to try to stop it.

edited for clarity

[chomskysright]

56. She's an optimist: the pessimist understand reality......

I called CNN today, leaving a specific message: get more progressives on your programs.

[chomskysright]

57. call CNN: TELL THEM U WANT PROGRESS COV:404827 1500

[chomskysright]

58. CNN COMMENT LINE: 404 827 1500