I'm back with news about my conversation with my local newspaper about Kerry

[beachmom]

Hi guys -- I'm temporarily out of my hibernation to tell you about my phone call with the public editor with The Virginian Pilot. My beef with them was their headline on 11/2/06:

"Kerry apologizes for remarks about U.S. Troops in Iraq"

I told him it was a falsehood, that it was a botched joke about Bush, and there was no mention of the troops. He argued with me a little with the "he said, he said" line that there were different interpretations, and I argued back, that given the entire tape and the script that had been made available, it was obviously about Bush. I said the headline was hurtful to the military and military families because it directly said a U.S. Senator had just insulted them, which was a lie. He also repeated the MSM line that Kerry gave the story legs by not apologizing immediately (the jury is still out for me, if that's true at all -- I do know that even after he apologized they STILL kept talking about it -- I told the editor that last part, and his answer was that this was Kerry's "Macaca moment". Groan)

He went on and on how Kerry was a bad candidate in '04 (but he seemed to think Kerry would have been a good president) -- mentioning "I voted for it before I voted against it", saying he was for the war before he was against it. I said he was talking about the $87 billion, and what Kerry said was true (he annoyingly replied, well, I know that, but the Republicans painted him effectively as a waffler). I told him also that the Right Wing would never be satisfied -- that they would always call the Virginian Pilot a liberal newspaper, and they shouldn't be scared into doing things that are journalistically incorrect. He said he knows that and that they weren't scared into anything.


I told him they haven't covered him at all since the '04 elections, especially everything he has done for veterans. His defense seemed to hinge on the paper's endorsement of Kerry in '04, a cop out, in my opinion.

We talk and talked, and finally, by the end, he acknowledged that the headline that was picked was not the best, and he wouldn't have chosen it. He wouldn't go so far to say it was a mistake, but that it wasn't the best choice. He also acknowledged that I was not a person looking for bias but truth and accuracy in reporting (I was glad he understood that that was my perspective). I figured that was the best I was going to get from him, so I thanked him for talking to me.

Lesson learned: everyone in the media does talk in a conventional wisdom sort of way, and it is extremely hard to overcome. My thread from several weeks ago, that Kerry had a major MSM problem, was only magnified by this botched joke incident. They think he blew it as a candidate, and the botched joke only added to it. They think he has trouble expressing himself, and constantly misspeak.

Don't want to depress anyone with this, I'm just talking about the MSM we have, not the MSM we wish we had. And this public editor down in Virginia Beach seemed to only mimic everything said on the networks in New York City.

[whometense]

1. I think you were incredibly brave to

confront him over their treatment of Kerry. I can verify from my own personal experience how deeply the MSM memes sink into the consciousness of people who are only half paying attention. A lot of people who are not interested or invested enough to seek out the truth will repeat the exact same points the editor did to you. I've heard the same things from democrats who buy into the Kerry MSM storyline.

It may not have been satifying - but I'll bet you moved him more than you could see. Maybe the next time he needs to choose or edit a headline for a story on Kerry he'll see it a little more through your eyes than he might have otherwise.

Long term, the fairness doctrine has to be reinstated - and - how's this for good luck??? - it will fall to Kerry's committee to take this on.

Until the MSM has some controls over these "stories" things will never change. They are accountable to no one and nothing. We have to do whatever it takes to prevent candidates from getting sandbagged - or Swiftboated - with lies.

Oh, and check these out: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=273&topic_id=112439&mesg_id=112439

And sorry about the obnoxious bolding - I posted on my way out the door this morning and didn't preview :blush:

[beachmom]

4. I had to fight to get to talk to him -- I was seriously in the process

of canceling my subscription (I had left the guy a message yesterday morning, and wasn't in the mood to wait any longer), and then they chased him down and got him on the phone. Now that it's over, I can't believe I did it (I'm normally a little shy with these kinds of phone calls). But SOMEBODY needs to tell these people when they've made a mistake. And now if people around here say anything about Kerry, I can talk about the headline and how the public editor did agree with me that it was not chosen well. That's something.

[wisteria]

2. Welcome back! Anyway, I think we all acknowledge his shortcomings

with the media. Your area is a little more conservative than some,so the perception is stronger. No doubt, he has to work hard to overcome this. Those that only view things in lose or win seem to be the ones that dismiss him without thought. It is also our party's problem as well, because we have created an ideal that is hard to live up to. How many people achieve their goals or win their races the first time out? Kerry is right, that Republicans are more forgiving of their candidates then we are and they allow for second and sometimes third shots at it.
I believe that with the right PR even a devil like McCain can be made to look good. But, I agree, Kerry is in desperate need of a great PR campaign.

[Democrafty]

3. This is useful information, though.

I think JK can at least try to overcome CW. Now you know your paper isn't pushing an anti-Kerry agenda.

[sandnsea]

5. Good for you

It is important to contact local media every time stuff gets printed that isn't accurate. It's harder when the DC Dems are spewing the same lies, but they have to know they're accountable to their readers, not political spin machines. I wrote a paper in Illinois this morning that excused their headline by saying that's the way it was interpreted, so too bad for Kerry. I told them their job was not to repeat misinterpretations, that doing that is why people believe Saddam had something to do with 9/11. They're supposed to tell the truth.

[karynnj]

6. You are beyond incredible!!!

[emulatorloo]

7. He probably won't read it, but send him a copy of Big Lies by Joe Conason

It pretty much lays out how the Right Wing Lie Machine manufactures "conventional wisdom." Maybe next time he won't be so lazy.

Anyway it is out in paper, about 5.00. I am reading it now and it is very convincing, easy to understand, and well done:

http://www.joeconason.com/books/biglies