If it wasn't for Moyers, Nova, and Frontline, what the hell would PBS be for? I really don't know anymore. The News Hour has gone to shit. "Documentaries" that blatantly distort American history are aired as if no one would notice or care. And it only gets worse.
More on the flip...
I'll let David Brock from Media Matters for America start:
I'm sure you've already heard that PBS will be hosting the next Democratic presidential forum on Thursday, June 28, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. What you may not know is that PBS has invited Frank Luntz, a longtime Republican pollster and strategist, to provide "immediate public feedback on the performances of the candidates" during post-forum coverage on the Tavis Smiley program.
Of course, when Luntz's appearance was announced, the press release made no mention of his Republican ties or long history of being criticized for his work.
Can you feel the invisible hand of the market? I mean can you feel it? And by the invisible hand of the market I, of course, mean the hand of Ken Tomlinson up PBS's skirt.
It was one thing when MSNBC was dumb enough to try and use Frank Luntz as if he were just some "man on the street" pollster without acknowledging his ties to republicans and they were rightly slapped down and forced to remove him from the coverage of the debate in September of 2004. I seem to remember that getting quite a bit of coverage, even outside the reality based community in which we dwell. Apparently not enough coverage for anyone at PBS to notice, or perhaps it was plenty.
Although I am one to engage in wild speculation from time to time, I don't even feel the need for my tinfoil to make this statement. To me this feels like a giant FUCK YOU from Ken Tomlinson to, well, anyone in the country who isn't a republican hack. Ken knows about what happened in 2004. Ken knows about every point in David Brock's letter. Here are the bullets:
* In 1997, the American Association for Public Opinion Research formally reprimanded Luntz for refusing to release documentation in support of comments he made to the media regarding his polling work on the Republican Party's 1994 "Contract with America" campaign platform, according to a Salon.com article.
* Washington Post polling director Richard Morin reported that the National Council on Public Polls censured Luntz "for allegedly mischaracterizing on MSNBC the results of focus groups he conducted during the [2000] Republican Convention."
* In September 2004, MSNBC dropped Luntz from its planned coverage of that year's presidential debate coverage, following a letter from Media Matters that outlined Luntz's GOP ties and questionable polling methodology.
* According to a January 29, 2007, article on The New Republic's website, Luntz "not only helped write Republican House member Newt Gingrich's Contract with America; he was also responsible for its presentation to the public." He also "advised Republicans trying to impeach Bill Clinton."
* Luntz's 2002 memo "The Environment: A Cleaner, Safer, Healthier America" coached Republicans on new ways to talk about global warming and warned the party that the environment "is probably the single issue on which Republicans in general -- and President Bush in particular -- are most vulnerable."
* A June 2004 memo by Luntz, "Communicating The Principles Of Prevention & Protection In The War On Terror," urged Republicans to use concepts such as "It is better to fight the War on Terror on the streets of Baghdad than on the streets of New York or Washington" and "9/11 changed everything," which have been staples of Republican rhetoric ever since.
Let us only hope that PBS will respond to the same pressure MSNBC did. There isn't much time. The forum is the day after tomorrow. I encourage everyone to call PBS, even your local affiliate and especially if you are a contributor and let them know how wrong this is. The guy is a Giuliani pollster and has no place reviewing a forum of his possible opponents if Giuliani wins the nomination. Most egregiously since PBS refers to Luntz only as a "noted pollster" in it's press release.
Here is the info, you know what to do.
PBS Ombudsman (and I use the term as loosely as is humanly possible) Michael Getler can be e-mailed here or you can call him at 703-739-5290.
You can e-mail PBS's viewers services department here.
And here is the info for the Tavis Smiley show:
Tavis Smiley
Producer:
KCET & The Smiley Group
4401 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90027
(323) 666-6500
Web site:
www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/
E-mail:
tsinfo@kcet.org
Get crackin' you dirty reality based hippies.