Maybe, this will be a tipping point that will help the network reporters find their souls, their journalistic integrity. Maybe they will stand up to the directors, producers and corporate executives who don't give a damn about honest reporting and the responsibility the networks have to the nation to tell the truth.
Anderson Cooper reams out faux Democrat Sen. Mary Landreiu, D-La. when she thanks the Bush administration for its response to the disaster. This is what real journalists do. send a message to CNN and Anderson Cooper that you like the way he's shifted from stenographic reporting to finally insisting on the truth, not letting interviewees who bullshit get away with it.
MSNBC asks a local FEMA administrator to explain the discrepancies between the bullshit Fema administrator Mike Brown (another incompetent Bush political appointee-liar) and what is being seen on the ground. The administrator, probably at the cost of his job, agrees, and he also agrees with the statement by Terry Ebbert, head of New Orlean's Emergency operations,
"This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace, Fema has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."
Then there's despicable Bill Hemmer, who's sold out, moving from CNN to Fox news. Wait. I go to Fox News to get Hemmers email, so you can tell him what a sh*t he is, and the headline reads, "This is a national disgrace." Even the propaganda arm of the right wing can't paint over what is happening in New Orleans. But they try, focusing on looting and violence, supporting the threat of the LA governor that national guard troops will "Shoot to Kill."
On the non-cable networks, it seems they are staying with a fluffier mix of news, and I must confess, that when they switch to a report on the latest missing white girl, I change the channel. That doesn't keep me watching them much. These networks and the people who continue covering such nonsense are also a national disgrace. I switch to each of the main networks from 8:45 to 8:48 AM and they all have musicians on, who are in some way linked to New Orleans. This is more bullshit""a cheap, low budget, no sweat way to fill air time without putting reporters on the scene. The Early Show plays already shot footage of New Orleans disaster scenes while Winton Marsalis plays his horn. These networks should lose their licenses. They don't deserve the right to use our airwaves.
But at least there is some light, some honesty rising to the surface. Who knows how contagious it may be. Who knows if it will become a habit, once the reporters try it. Maybe they'll find the balls to talk honestly about the Iraq war, about Tom Delay, about social security, about the 2000 and 2004 elections, about electronic voting, about global warming. Now there's something to pray for""and to write letters about. When you see a reporter breaking the pattern and telling the truth, take the extra time to write to them and to their networks. Thank them and ask them to keep it going.
And while you are at it, write to your local daily newspapers and tell them too.
click here to easily send a letter to your local paper, senators and congressmen, telling them to Investigate and Report on the Bush Administration Failures to Protect and Care for the People of New Orleans