Where are the Liberal Democratic commentators on TV?!?!?!???

[Sparkly]

Where are the equivalents of Brent Bozell, Bob Novak, Bob Dole, Pat Buchanan, and Ralph Reed -- the people who "balanced" the DNC convention?

Why am I seeing Republicans discussing this? Why not Michael Moore, David Brock, Al Franken, or any of the Democratic primary candidates?!

Grrrr....

[berner59]

1. Jack Germond...

on CNN... Finally...but he should be hitting it hard!!

[troublemaker]

2. The sauce?

[yardwork]

15. I'm afraid that's a certainty.....

The rethuglican controlled media never brings on strong Democrats.

[David Dunham]

3. We should all complain about this.

[Sparkly]

6. Oh definitely. I have an email from the CNN exec after the DNC

I sent him a list of suggested liberal Democrats for the RNC convention because I was so mad at all the Republicans discussing ours. He said they WOULD be having many of the people on my list comment.

Yeah RIGHT.

I've got to find that email...

[Sparkly]

9. HERE!!!

My letter is below his reply. And he's wrong, they did NOT always have an "offsetting point of view" any more than they've had them tonight.

*********

Subject: Re: Fair and Trustworthy News Coverage at CNN
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 11:59:38 -0400
From: "Jordan, Eason" <[email protected]>

Thank you for sharing your suggestions and concerns. CNN certainly will invite most of the liberals you suggested to appear on CNN during the Republican convention. Whether they appear unrebutted is another issue, especially since virtually all conservative guests appearing on CNN during the Democratic convention appeared with an offsetting point of view guest.

Sincerely,
Eason

--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

-----Original Message-----

To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
CC: [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>

Sent: Wed Aug 04 11:56:58 2004
Subject: Fair and Trustworthy News Coverage at CNN

CNN:

My husband and I work from home, follow politics closely, and keep our televisions on, tuned to news, through most of the day and night. Never have I been more infuriated, or more baffled, by your "news" coverage. It's become increasingly obvious that you seek to boost your ratings by emphasizing the sensational and the trivial, yet I can understand putting revenues above responsibility as a rationale. But not even profit motive can entirely explain your astounding efforts at propping up George W. Bush.

During the 2000 presidential campaigns, I thought you were simply bending over backwards in an effort not to appear "liberally biased," but would correct yourselves and find balance eventually.

After the USSC's decision about Florida in 2000, I thought you were just trying to prevent riots by spinning facts to pacify a public who'd just had democracy ripped out from under them.

After 9/11, I thought you were just trying to unify a country longing to be united under strong leadership.

But at this point, I can't imagine what you're thinking.

Your reporting on the Democratic primary campaigns was stunningly insulting, especially regarding your former commentator, General Wesley Clark. You've re-run "A Flyboy's Story" at least four times, for no apparent reason. And you continue to employ Bob Novak, who's seriously betrayed national security on a level that's traitorous beyond excuse.

From Judy Woodruff to Paula Zahn, Tucker Carlson to Kate O'Beirne, Wolf Blitzer to Candy Crowley, I've come to distrust nearly all of your anchors, reporters, and talkers. They seem utterly unable even to report common-knowledge facts as given by the AP and Reuters. I know for a fact that corrections, complete with URL citations of wire services, are sent to you routinely (do you read your feedback?), and yet the lies -- or errors -- persist. Only Lou Dobbs and Aaron Brown have remained on the routine schedule of our TV, but at this point all loyalty has faded.

The last straw was your reporting on the DNC convention last week, which was absolutely amazing in its malice. By Monday, I decided I couldn't stand CNN for ongoing coverage, but only as a periodic check-in (thanks, C-Span). By Thursday, CNN check-ins became virtually indistinguishable from Fox check-ins, and MSNBC "After Hours" was the only palatable television discussion of the convention. (It says a lot when CNN makes Joe Scarborough seem rational.)

You paved the way with Sunday night's "Born to Run." Perhaps I should have run when I heard Candy Crowley's byline, but Aaron Brown introduced it asking, "What does John Kerry stand for? What does he really believe? And most importantly, what sort of president would he make?"

Trusting Aaron, I watched. I watched the repetition of every now-familiar, long-discounted rightwing smear Rove ever faxed, with people like John O'Neill and Bob Dole as quotable sources of impartial, insightful judgments on Kerry's character. (If you want to see a factual biographical documentary, watch MSNBC's "John Kerry: Bringing the War Home.")

Then the DNC Convention began, with "trusted" commentary from people like Brent Bozell, Zell Miller, and Ralph Reed! Aaron Brown interviewing Laura Ingraham about the Democrats' convention was sadly beyond belief.

Given your line-up of commentators for my party's convention, I'd like to offer some suggestions for similarly fair coverage of the August RNC convention in New York, following the model you established for the DNC convention. The list below suggests people to be interviewed for your biographical documentary of Bush, who can provide character analyses and personal opinions of him, just as John O'Neill, Bob Dole, and others expressed their personal opinions of John Kerry in "Born to Run." People from this list should also be contacted to provide their opinions immediately following every major RNC speech and event, as well as overall criticism of the convention (all unrebutted, of course), just as Bozell, Miller, Reed, and Ingraham did.

In no particular order:

Michael Moore
Al Franken
Janeane Garofalo
Randi Rhodes
Joe Conason
Al Sharpton
Bill Maher
Mario Cuomo
Ann Richards
Whoopi Goldberg
Paul Krugman
Molly Ivins
Cynthia McKinney
David Brock
Maxine Waters
Howard Dean
Nancy Pelosi

Only by having these people as unrebutted commentators for the RNC convention can CNN begin to earn any part of the slogan, "trusted news source." I'll let them know to expect your call.

Sincerely,

[John_H]

16. Dem surrogates should be asking the hosts about this point blank on air

with lists and stats

[SayitAintSo]

4. No Shit .... Thinkin' the same thing.....n/t

[michigandem2]

5. i didn't think this would be so blatant...they have NOBODY

talking for US...its truly a conservitive media...we are not being heard at ALL....

[berner59]

8. Bob Herbert...

yeah!!! But he's saying that this is a brawl now and Kerry/Edwards better be up for it!!! Why isn't he trashing the tone more!!

[Pachamama]

7. Where's Vetwife? She organized a call-in to CNN a few weeks back...

...looks like we need another on Tuesday....

:grr:

First we have Repukes commenting and sh*tting all over the DNC and now almost no "balancing" from the Dems on the RNC and we have to listen to "dead people" sing (Sinatra)...I'm calling in to CNN tommorrow....

:kick:

[jus_the_facts]

10. nothing is fair and balanced or just...especially the corporate media....

....it's all a sham...from the bottom to the top...and back down again...better save yourself the agony of expectin' any better either...our side has played RIGHT into their hands all along as well...even when we win we still lose in the long run...been happenin' all thru history...nothing has ever really changed...only some o'the names.... :nopity:

[mbali]

11. CNN has Carville and Begala and Hunt

But they're ALWAYS paired with a counter-balancing conservative, while Novak, et al, are given their own shows and featured spots to offer "news analysis."

There goes that SCLLM again!

[LSdemocrat]

12. Hillary was just shown on CNBC

[bossfish]

13. Mario Cuomo is on CNN with Larry King...

...and he is always good.

Dulce had to delay her report...with some gushing about how the Governator is rehearsing. Mmmmm.....creamy Candy....

Mo Rocca the tool just gave her a little mocking.

[rumguy]

14. This is it folks - we are catching them red-handed in their bias

There is no excuse for this.

We can use this as a weapon against them.

[cthrumatrix]

20. you knew this would happen.... let them explain it TODAY !

[DeepModem Mom]

17. kick

[thecrow]

18. KICK! n/t

[Leilani]

19. Where is Mission NOT Accomplished?

I thought the Dems were going to do a truth squad, just like the Repubs had their own spinners at the DNC.

Is this the fault of the media?

Would they refuse to have Dems on?

I took part in the Contact CNN Campaign...I spent the better part of a day calling, emailing, etc.

I keep getting emails from Kerry Campaign...why are they telling me?
They need to get on TV & tell the American people.

[AnnInLa]

21. You are pre-supposing that these TV commentators

are journalists, they are not. They are entertainers and personalities, on the same level as Alex Trebek or Jerry Springer or even Jon Stewart. I remember when Peter Jennings was a real journalist, but once he became the anchor of ABC news, he became a personality and "adjusted" his reporter's ethics. Even if I don't agree with them most of the time, there are a few TV personalities that still do what a reporter is supposed to do, namely ask follow up questions, call someone when they are answering a question by just generalizing, expose bullshitting: Lou Dobbs, Tweety, Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley. Bill Maher was correct the other night: TV reporters are no longer interested in asking the hard questions. There is SO much competition for TV viewers with all the "news" channels, that the TV reporters are forced to become entertainers to help the ratings and bottom $$$$ line of their network. Sad state of affairs for the viewers.