Al Gore, Jan. 16, 2005:
As Dr. King once said, 'Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.'
As has been diaried numerous times, Al Gore delivered an extremely powerful speech in front of a bi-partisan crowd at DAR Hall in Washington DC. While it was hyped on the internet and prominently covered by C-SPAN, it was basically ignored by the major Cable News stations and their websites, including CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News.
I believe it is important that we respond by sending letters to these stations to let them know that they missed an important speech that the American people need to hear. Below the fold, I provide links and a sample letter that I sent to CNN.com--please join me!
The letter that I sent to CNN.com:
I'm very disappointed with your lack of coverage of the Al Gore and Bob Barr speech today in front of a bi-partisan crowd at DAR Hall in Washington DC. The speech was a surprisingly powerful and compelling rebuttal of the policies of the President--including the limits of executive power, the issue of monitoring domestic communications and the authorization of the use of torture--at a time when the American public needs an open, non-partisan, non-talking-points explanation of these policies. A quick search of your website only found a brief mention of the speech in "The Morning Grind":
http://www.cnn.com/...
Is Cnn.com a news web site or are you simply becoming FoxNews.com? A decade ago I relied on CNN for important breaking news but increasingly I find that I must go else where to fill that need.
Links for comment submission:
CNN comment page, which includes links to comment on CNN TV and CNN.com
Email link to submit comments to the Editor of the MSNBC Website and Email link to submit comments to MSNBC TV
It might seem like a waste of time but the extra work to send a few more emails to Fox News is minimal and they need to hear from us.
Email link to submit comments to the Fox News Website and Email link to submit comments to Fox News TV
UPDATE: AnneElizabeth points to an excellent post by Peter Daou, "The Gore Example: Does the Democratic Establishment Get the Traditional Media Problem?" at The Huffington Post on the lack of coverage of the Al Gore speech by the MSM:
Which of the following is more important:
a) The deceptive and intentionally vague testimony of a judge who could shape America's future
b) The tears of his wife
a) A missing girl in Aruba
b) The brazen outing of a covert CIA operative
a) A major speech by a former Vice-President of the United States accusing George W. Bush of breaking the law
b) An overturned tanker truck on a New York highway
Al Gore delivers a scathing indictment of Bush's power-grab. Flipping on the cable nets, CNN, MSNBC and FOX are covering 'breaking' news: an overturned tanker truck on a New York highway. This after a week of roadblock coverage of Bush's worn-out terror speeches.
THIS is the Democrats' problem. Notwithstanding a cacophony of rightwing voices assailing the "liberal" media, the Dem establishment needs to understand that if it doesn't go after the media institutionally, things simply will not change. But don't hold your breath waiting for them to get it... As I said last week, "the intricate interplay of Republican persuasion tactics, media story-telling, and 21st century information flow seems beyond the ken of most Democratic strategists and leaders. The hellish reality progressive bloggers have acknowledged and internalized is still alien to the party establishment. Dem strategy is still two parts hackneyed sloganeering and one part befuddlement over the stifling of their message."