Contact media re: lack of Colbert coverage

[deutsey]

http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=20751

Last week at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, comedian Stephen Colbert delivered a scathing satirical commentary on the Bush Administration -- right in front of President Bush himself. But unless you get your news from online sources such as the blogs, you probably didn't even hear about it.

If you haven't already watched his performance, watch it online now.

It's ironic that at the annual gathering of this nation's elite journalists, the only one with the courage to tell the honest truth was a comedian. It sure speaks volumes to the media's failure to ask the Bush administration hard questions and hold it accountable.

The mainstream media have uncritically served as lapdog stenographers for this administration. So perhaps it's not surprising that they now have decided that Colbert's criticism of the President is not newsworthy. No major paper or television network gave Colbert's performance anything but a cursory mention -- a silence that continues to this day. This certainly wasn't the case back in 1996, when radio deejay Don Imus roasted President and First Lady Clinton with a series of off-color jokes. That event made page one of the New York Times and the front page of the Washington Post Style Section.

So why the silence on Colbert? Were they uncomfortable with his courage in pointing out that the media hasn't been carrying out the independent watchdog role upon which our democracy depends?


Call to action

Tell the mainstream media: please do your jobs as independent watchdogs, and don't leave honest and much-needed criticism of this administration to the comedians.

[rodeodance]

1. already did. and hope lots more do so.

[MrModerate]

2. C'mon now! A Kennedy drove his car into a barricade!

Let's focus on the important stuff.

[deutsey]

3. Was he with a missing white girl?

:evilgrin:

[0007]

4. The freepers are having a shit hemorrhage. After all the name

Kennedy is almost like saying Hillary.

[MrModerate]

5. Why do I think of scaly creatures scrabbling under rocks . . .

When I hear of Freepers in an uproar?

[deutsey]

6. Why do I think of Krystalnacht?

:evilfrown:

[MrModerate]

9. Whew! That's a much darker vision than mine . . .

Grid knows they'd kill us if they could, but only really scary if you imagine them having any real power.

I can't imagine the Grand Cabal ever empowering such a clutch of gassy losers -- wingnuts can (generally) smell a fart as well as anyone else -- so outside of a small fraction of them going postal in a MacDonald's, I think we're probably safe.

[deutsey]

10. Yeah, I'm in a bit of a mood...

I can't imagine these trogladytes being anything more than pathetic stooges for the Cabal.

:hi:

[deutsey]

7. Kick

[Arugula Latte]

8. I just sent mine off.

I sent my own comments. Here they are:

Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner was THE story that emerged from that event. In its aftermath, however, mainstream journalists who had just been taken to task for five years of pandering and cowering and doing the bidding of the corrupt Bush administration tried to wash news of his gutsy commentary right down the ol' memory hole.

Sorry, but the Internet will no longer allow you to do that. When the media tries to put up a pro-Republican, pro-corporate screen on what news gets out, the Internet will find a way to get around the screen.

The Judith Millers in the national press corp have done this country a real disservice -- and thousands upon thousands of people have suffered and died as a result. It's a sad fact that "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" other comedic outlets have been much more informative about what is really going on in this country under this administration.

Please take back your traditional role as skeptics and watchdogs -- and jettison the lapdog role. Thank you.

:kick: