Clark, Dean and Kucinich supporters, a proposal

[Turkw]

All three of the candidates have been getting a raw deal in the media.
I think that we should band together to complain and protest media smears. We could take one issue a week for each candidate, send emails for the other candidates, and letters for our own. This would be a good practice for the big showdown with Bush.

I have already started, in support of Clark. Here is the letter I am sending via email and snail mail to various persons at CNN and MSNBC:

I am growing increasingly alarmed with the direction the coverage your news organization is taking with the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Specifically in the over all way that it chooses to cover or ignore candidates. Reporting on candidate favorites are given enormous positive coverage, while the others are ignored or deliberately marginalized. When I say deliberately marginalized, I mean exactly that.

For example, Wesley Clark in his first political primary, New Hampshire, was cast as losing for receiving third, while John Edwards was cast as being a winner for fourth. Clark did spend time there without much competition, but less overall time than John Edwards, who's campaign had very positive effects from the second place results of Iowa. Also Edwards, a professional politician, has been in the race for more than a year longer than Clark with national coverage. Finally, the first and second place recipients are from neighboring states and did not have the limit of spending caps. The logic of Third place is a loss, while Fourth place is a win, is very hard to understand by any other rational than bias, either unintentional or deliberate.

The coverage of the next primary date has been so focused on the one state that Kerry and Edwards are currently the top contenders, that all the other states have been virtually ignored. When any attention is paid to them at all, it is in the context of Kerry and Dean. Again Clark is marginalized by ignoring states where he has very recently and currently been polling in the number one and two slots. This continued pattern supports the growing belief that the media is overstepping its role as reporting the news and is creating and influencing it instead.

Obviously I am a Clark supporter, that does not mean that I have been oblivious to the mishandling of coverage given to other candidates. Dennis Kucinich has been virtually neutralized before any votes were cast, and Howard Dean's fall from front runner was unfairly helped by misrepresentation, especially the so called "I have a scream" speech, which was reported out of context. These are only examples.

These biases in reporting, added to a lack of in-depth coverage of real issues in favor of topics such as botox, is truly unworthy of your organization and the talented people who work for it. I urge you to take a look at the way your organization is handling the Democratic primary and bring the neutrality and professionalism that we, your viewers, have a right to expect. I look forward to seeing a return to the quality of reporting and newscasting that I know you strive for.

Sincerely