Tell Fox to air debates
Find a Conversation
| Tue, 09-21-2004 - 1:56pm |
address onto your address bar)
Our thanks to the tens of thousands of Media for Democracy members who signed
our petition urging the networks to air the upcoming presidential and vice
presidential debates. It has yielded some fruit.
As of last night, at least three of the biggest broadcasters agreed to broadcast
all of debates. Since last Thursday, Media for Democracy members have signed
more than 45,000 petition letters urging the networks to fulfill their
obligation by airing this important discussion of the issues.
CBS responded within 18 hours of the petition's launch. The office of CBS News
President Andrew Hayward contacted Media for Democracy on Friday to announce:
"Absolutely, positively, 1,000 percent correct, we will carry all of the debates
live." By the end of the day yesterday, NBC and ABC had followed suit,
announcing that they planned to cover all of the debates as well (read the
report).
The one hold out remains Fox, which has so far committed to air only one, the
first, via their more than 200 local broadcast affiliates. Given Fox's track
record there is reason for concern. In 2000, Fox skipped a debate, opting to air
the premiere episode of "Dark Angel." This year, they have the rights to air the
Major League Baseball playoffs, and might preempt the debates if they pose a
scheduling conflict.
If you want to continue the petition with Fox as the sole target, you can use
this easy template:
http://www.mediafordemocracy.us/campaign/debate
Thanks, again, for making a difference in 2004.
Timothy Karr
Media for Democracy
MediaChannel.org
