Will someone PLEASE tell me what the HELL is going on here?

[BUSHOUT]

Why is the "news" media embracing a "story" about a staged JerrySpringeresque outburst, and letting the real news slip by?
The media made a stink about it, created a false impression, and is now polling people to see if thier false impression had an impact on them. It's parasitical whoring.

The Kerry campaign needs to start pre-empting the media.

WE need to start pre-empting the media!

So what's coming up?

The stupid Sinclair bullshit "news" event.

What do we do about it?

How about talking about the Nightline program that appeared this last week? Someone told me not to worry, the story has legs. Where are they?

In all likelyhood Sinclair will be showing that bullshit this week.

WHAT WILL THE MEDIA DO? THEY WILL LICK IT UP AND DOWN!!

We need to pre-empt the media.

Email them. Call them. Blog about it as much as you can.

Ask when the documentary "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" will be shown someplace. Tell them you saw it and it's informative and non-partisan....and casts light on the SBVT and John O'Neil.

Ask then why they haven't covered the revelations in last weeks "Nightline" special. Tell them it's news because:

1. New independent witnesses in Vietnam back up the after-action report that there were "superior numbers" and heavy fire.

2. New independent witnesses indicate the man killed was indeed a grown man in VC attire, not a "boy in a loincloth". He had a rocket launcher and was a VC provincial commander.

3. Someone visited the Vietnam village 6 months ago asking questions and saying Kerry didn't deserve his medals. Who was this? Is someone involved with SBVT withholding the same info given to Nightline by the vietnamese villagers?

4. John O'Niel avoided questions and seemed uncomfortable and insincere.

Ask them why the Nightline special revelations aren't bigger news considering how much attention has been given to O'Niel and the SBVT and the Sinclair thing.

WHY????

I think Jon Stewart gave us a call to arms the other day on Crossfire. We need to demand the media get out of the gutter and start looking at things with some honesty and seriousness.

[BUSHOUT]

1. Anybody? No?

sigh. For the first time, I just became depressed about this election. I see no recognition of the Nightline story and no recognition of Going Upriver in the media. And precious little talk of either here.

DU would rather fret about a media-produced lesbian backlash than focus on our weapons in this battle.

[Free2BMe]

2. Eye witness...just happens to remember details of 30 + years, ago..

So go back and take a look at some of the Mr. and Mrs..Bush escapades..Hmmm ...what did people think....How does it affect us...Can THEY be trusted.

[gauguin57]

3. What in the hell?

If your village was burned down by American soldiers (which is what happened to those Vietnamese peasants), I do think you'd remember it!

[BUSHOUT]

4. Did you watch the Nightline special? Why would you question an eyewitness

that found the friggin' dead body??????

These people lived in the riverside village that was the center of the action that day. The village was destroyed. They are quoted as saying they'll "never forget" that day.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you....am I?

[Free2BMe]

9. Must have put it the wrong way...thanks for your POLITE inquiry...

Point being made about the Sinclair broadcast not the Nightline...

[Spiffarino]

10. OK. I get it now.

Thanks for clarifying.

[BUSHOUT]

11. You didn't comprehend I guess...sorry 'bout the hurt feelings...

There's 15 days 'till election. I don't have patience for people who don't pay attention at this point.

And I was more polite than the other poster who called you on it.

[Spiffarino]

6. WTF are you talking about

I hate to be rude, but your post makes no sense. Could you elaborate?

[JohnnyCougar]

5. I would hope the Kerry campaign would be pushing these stories

We can e-mail people, and we should: Sometimes it makes a difference, and sometimes not. I'm just sick of having to be the media's watchdog. But doesn't the Kerry campaign have enough pull to demand that certain stories get reported? I would hope so. Our pundits have to do more of what McAuliffe did. The just have to go on the news shows and ignore what others are saying ad REPORT THE FUCKING NEWS THEMSELVES!!!

[BUSHOUT]

8. The Kerry campaign can't be that blatently self-promoting. Going Upriver

needs to be talked about by us.

And the Kerry campaign understandably doesn't want to lend credibility to the SBVT and the "Stolen Honor" bullshit by mentioning it.

It's up to us to demand that the Nightline program revelations be brought up....we need to bring it up.
And it's up to us to talk more about "Going Upriver" than we do about The Lynn Cheney Jerry Springfeld tryouts.

[Ksec]

7. Ive got blisters on my fingers from contacting media

Im constantly raging about these types of stories.

[grasswire]

12. at some point....

.....we are going to have to realize that we can rarely influence the news by using emails or even phone calls. Those communications are too easily set aside or attributed to organized campaigns.

What can we try next?

We could try writing paper letters. Paul Begala says that 100 paper letters could change the direction of a news program. It only takes a moment more to print out a letter, stuff it in an envelope and stamp it.

We could try protests -- real people picketing news outlets. Actually hollering at the talking heads and producers might make them comprehend the disfavor they've created for themselves.

Or we could just develop avenues to go around the gatekeepers and render them irrelevant. It's already in the works, with bloggers and message boards and radio.

However, a step is missing in the last scenario. There must be a way to reach people who do not have Internet access. One alternative would be a free newspaper sponsored at the local level by unions.

Another grassroots endeavor would be just street-by-street distribution of flyers. Weekly, monthly whatever. Centralized or not. Papering America.

Heck, the citizens under totalitarian rule in Eastern Europe kept their movement alive by typing news with carbon papers to make multiple copies for distribution. Surely we can be as dedicated to truth as they were.

[sandnsea]

13. Local media, don't underestimate it

I know your frustration. I've posted several things we need to be focused on and they drop like a rock. But stupid polls and Mary Cheney take up all the space. And people around here wonder why the news reports them. Well that's apparently what most of America responds to, DU does.

As far as this election goes, don't underestimate letters to the local newspapers. That's the best way to circumvent cable news. Far more people read local papers than watch CNN anyway.