Wedding cake guy reads EVERY e-mail - our opportunity

[UTUSN]

Brian WILLIAMS, who, with his excessively dapper duds and grooming, and with his physical listing, always looks like he's about to fall off the top of the wedding cake, presents us with a VAST opportunity for input. To those of us who have spewed countless e-mails and felt that we are spitting into the wind, there's a CHANCE (small) of being HEARD!!1

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/

QUESTION: Some people have talked about news becoming a conversation and not a lecture. How do you see ‘Nightly News’ becoming more of a conversation?

Williams: It’s already happened. I’ve read some viewer emails on the air. I take them into account when I sit down to prepare the broadcast. I’ve gone back at them when people have written in and told us to get off the story like with Katrina. I’ve used them as an example as to why we’re not going to get off the story.

I think it’s much more of a conversation today than it was even five years ago. When you talk about five years from now, it will be ever thus. I think we’re doing a better job of avoiding the ‘from on high’ tone in the broadcast. People should know that I read every email received by the broadcast, I read every email received by the blog. I do it for a reason. I certainly hope people are reading it, and I like nights when I go home from work and I will sit down in our kitchen with my wife, where our computer is, and I will log into our blog and see a healthy debate has erupted in the hour or so it’s taken me to come home.

QUESTION: How do you find time to read through all the emails? You must get hundreds of them per day.

Williams: Oh my God. You wouldn’t believe it. The one luxury I ask for is my assistant prints out the ones I don’t get to electronically, and I take ‘em home on paper. And it’s not always pretty. And no one likes the ones that say I should be dead. And no one should just read the ones from the dyed-in-the-wool ‘Nightly News’ fans who think I should be president. Somewhere in there is the naked truth.

QUESTION: So we had Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather, and now we have Brian Williams, Katie Couric and Charles Gibson. What differences do you see there, and what similarities?

Williams: Well, we’ll have to wait. Charlie hasn’t been in the chair all that long. Katie has not yet launched and I know she has some plans to differentiate her broadcast. I think one thing has to be stressed, especially in this interview, considering where you’re coming from. On some nights we split an audience three ways of 30 million Americans, and I don’t need to tell you that you can’t come close to that audience in any other medium. The fact that ‘Nightly News’ most nights leads the pack by — I don’t know what the numbers are — makes us the largest single source of news in the United States by an enormous margin. There’s no newspaper, there’s no website, there’s no news site that comes even close.

With that comes a not unsubstantial responsibility. We take it very seriously and Katie will too. Katie knows the bottom line is she’ll be speaking for an entire news organization, and people are coming to her to find out what happened today and the truth about what’s going on in the world. Let’s wait and let her get launched. Every broadcast reflects to some extent the personality of the anchor because invariably our titles carry with it the dual title of managing editor, so that speaks to content.

********UNQUOTE*******

[MADem]

1. I would recommend that anyone writing to him do a few things:

Be POLITE--there's nothing wrong with being forceful about one's opinions, but rudeness doesn't bring people to one's corner.

Be BRIEF--Stick to one issue, don't exceed three paragraphs.

Be cogent--Check that grammar, and spellcheck as well. Use logic when formulating the argument.

This IS an opportunity...BW was called by Frank Luntz, I believe, the GOP go-to guy, because he had "no detectable ideological bias."

[UTUSN]

2. Good points & in HIS case I would agree on the politeness to him

because he DOES project an ATTEMPT to be fair minded, although he does his share of Shrub-asskissing.

Now, with the others, who are NOT going to change or even listen, I say let'em HAVE it!!1 Politeness is NOT going to bring Tweety or most others around. Might as well let it all vent out with them.

[Sherman A1]

5. agreed

Whenever I send an LTTE (and I regularly get them published), I find politeness counts as well as brevity. I usually shoot for one paragraph if at all possible, no more than 100 words. My theory being that you are more likely to get published if you can fit into that space too small for the other guy's longer letter. I have also found that just like Jeopardy phrasing the comment in the form of a question seems to get a better look. Anyway had one published on the F22 Raptor & GAO report yesterday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Should have one shortly in the Christian Science Monitor and expect one in August in the US Naval Institute Proceedings.

[Hugin]

6. Logic?!?!?

That's a lost art 'roun 'Merica.

:rofl:

What you say is the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing, but, the Truth!

Courtesy pays!

[Me.]

3. Any Direct Email Address For Him?

Thanks

*shadow government*

[UTUSN]

4. [e-mail] Sorry I don't have his personal e-addy n/t

[Me.]

7. Thanks

I'll give it a try

*shadow government*