Should Kerry publicly criticize the press ?

[kentuck]

And say exactly why he is criticizing them? Remind them of the job they failed to do in 2000 with all the talk about Al Gore's "lies and exaggerations", his "earthtones", "invented the Internet", "Love Story", etc? And remind the people that the media is doing the same thing again. They have spent days on the Swift Boat stories when it is nothing more than a propaganda campaign out of the White House. If they would only pursue the whereabouts of George W Bush when he says he was in Alabama and not one person in America can remember serving with him? He should call on the media not to allow themselves to be used by political hacks of either Party. They have a duty to report the truth and the facts, not rumors and gossip and innuendo, to the American people. Let us hope that they start doing their job and stop doing the propaganda work of the Republican Party.

[AP]

1. I think he is. Some of his comments on the Convention coverage were

scathing. Subtle, but scathing.

[Racenut20]

2. No way, but we should take that list and email them all every day.

[Zynx]

3. No. They'll turn on him if he does.

[kentuck]

5. They will turn on him ??

:shrug:

[pacalo]

6. I agree. I think after he's elected...

he should blindside them with a slew of FCC changes.

[Nightjock]

27. You are 100 percent correct. It's bad enough now as it is.

[kentuck]

28. So people can turn on Kerry instead of fhe press ?

When they distort and misreport what he says? So it's better that people turn on the candidate? Because that is what is happening. Did you listen to Mike Malloy show last night?

[pmbryant]

4. No. Few people trust the press anyway.

So criticizing them won't gain him anything, but will just cause them to jump on him even more viciously.

It is our job to keep the press in line, or at least to counteract their misrepresentations.

Peter

[bambo53]

13. Kerry shouldn't fight back?

OK then, let Donna Brazil do it? Let Joe Lieberman do it? Let Dick Gerhard do it? Let Allen Combs do it? Let Dick Morris do it? Zell Miller? Nancy Paliosi? How about our Senate Minority Leader? I can't even remember his name!

The ONLY spokesman we have that's willing to do the job is Mikael Moore for god's sake!

[pmbryant]

15. I didn't say that

Fighting back is not the same as criticizing the press directly.

This election is going to be won on the ground, not over the airwaves. We all need to become "spokesmen" ourselves to our friends and neighbors.

Peter

[kentuck]

16. "This election is going to be won on the ground, not over the airwaves."

That's a lot of ground. Color me skeptical.

[CarolynEC]

17. As long as the airwaves are reaching the ground at some point...

... I wouldn't ignore the airwaves!

:)

[pmbryant]

19. Alas, we don't control the airwaves

There's definitely a lot of ground to cover. Fortunately, there are a lot of us. If we all do our part, we can cover it, easily.

Peter

[SemperEadem]

20. Actually, 'the people' do own the airwaves

The airwaves are free; cable isn't. You subscribe to cable.

Yeah, you might need to have cable to get the broadcast signal clearly, but if worst comes to worse, you put some rabbit ears on the tv and tune it in to the station you're trying to watch.

Broadcasting and cable(narrow)casting are two different models.

[pmbryant]

36. We own them, but don't control them

Congress has made sure of that. :-(

Anyway, my point is that we have to do the hard work here.

Peter

[CarolynEC]

7. I think a batter bet is to have a heart-to-heart...

... with the campaign reporters now and then. Just stop the bus and say, "Look, folks, we gotta talk..."

No hissy-fits, no "poor, poor pitiful me." Just tell 'em plain and simple how he sees it -- whatever the current "it" is -- and lay the facts out on the table.

That's what they're craving, anyhow. Clear, direct quotes or soundbites they can plug into the coverage with a minimum of effort.

And the reporters themselves are a captive audience, in a way. He's got the media focused on him night and day -- make use of it! Turn it to your advantage, JK!

[Pastiche423]

8. Kerry wouldn't do that

He's a Sensible Liberal.

[Meritaten1]

9. Not Kerry, but some of his most visible supporters

should complain about press coverage issues. That way, attention is directed to the issue but the candidate can remain above the fray.

[kaitykaity]

10. When Howard Dean publicly stated he would

beef up the FCC to break up the media monopolies,
the media turned on him like rabid dogs.

Kerry should keep quiet about them and get our
revenge on them after Jan 20.

[zulchzulu]

33. Bingo! We have a winner

If you look at when Dean dissed the media (rightfully so), you can also see the trend downward in his campaign.

Play the "Media is Evil" card at your peril.

[kentuck]

34. "Media is Evil" is the same as criticizing the media in any manner ??

I don't buy that...

[zulchzulu]

38. There are plenty of dead bodies in the political cemetery that...

..pissed off the media.

Nixon

Carter

Agnew

McGovern

Dean (his recent campaign)

Eugene McCarthy

Hoover

etc.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

39. Too late then

if you look at Kerry's answer to the media consolidation question at the UNITY conference.

[kentuck]

11. The purpose is not to complain but to inform the public....

that are the true victims of the present media coverage.

[Joanne98]

12. Hellya........

He might as well, there going to screw him anyway. I wouldn't call them RW though. I'd pound on the profit side of it. The TRASH that's on TV. Trash "Fear Factor" the world's most disgusting show. Having people eating maggots out of a blender OMG.

[Walt Starr]

14. He doesn't have to. All he and his campaign needs to do is

SHUT OUT FOX NEWS!!!

Nobody talks to Fox. Nobody answers Fox. Nobody goes on a Fox show.

The rest of the media will get the hint.

[SemperEadem]

21. that's the best move they could make

that is the death knell of any news organization--when they're cut out of the running for "exclusives" and "late breaking" stories. Playing catch-up on a story that has already broke is called "olds" not "news".

There is nothing that will bring the management's artificial construct crashing down around them faster than for them to be seen as not competitive by the viewing public.

[Leilani]

42. If it was only FOX, that would be a fine idea...

but CNN is trying to out FOX FOX.

I really think they are worse, because they pretend to be neutral, & do everything with a wink, wink, nod, nod. And they do this on almost all their shows.

[Bandit]

18. He has every right to criticize but like Clinton said

"You don't make enemies with those who buy ink by the barrel."

[Kilroy003]

22. Nah, let the media be media

I seem to remember the media giving the impression in 2000 that a Gore victoy was pretty much a slam dunk. I would argue that an obvious media bias has a potential to turn-off many Americans. Seriously, how many people actually believe what they see on the news? I'd like to see a poll on that.

[Walt Starr]

23. If they did a poll on that

would the media report it?

:evilgrin:

[Kilroy003]

32. Distort it more likely...

:silly tongue trick:

[sampsonblk]

24. Yes, without alienating them

In every speech, he could say "when I am president, no news reporter needs to fear printing the truth about me. No news reporter needs to slant the truth in my favor in order to get called on during press conferences..." This is criticism without insult. And might inspire some news reporters to work on stories regarding the media environment since Bush has been in office. Its pretty frightening.

[zulchzulu]

25. Piss off the media and watch the race go down in flames

Rule #1: Don't piss off the media. Be accessible. Play nice.

[kentuck]

26. Did Gore piss off the media?

They weren't very nice to him?

[0007]

29. If he doesn't he hasn't a hair on his ass.

[Justitia]

30. Strategically speaking - not yet.

Got a painful inside look at all things media via the Dean campaign.

Some suggestions:

DO NOT take on "The Media" as an unfaced bogeyman publicly.

DO name those mainstream "reporters / journalists" who consistently slant against the candidate, party, liberals, etc.
Examples: Dowd, Krauthammer, Safire, AP writers like Fournier, Pickler, etc. Do point out their consistent, individual biases.

While never issuing a general edict like "We do not associate with Fox News or their minions", DO NOT make it easy for any of them to have direct contact with the candidate or his campaign.
DO NOT give easy access to the enemy.
Instead, be cheerfully and regretfully hard to get a hold of.
DO NOT give them credibility by accepting their "journalistic credentials" via unfettered access (which they absolutely will use to GOP advantage).
You don't supply the enemy ammo with which to shoot you.

Now, after we win the White House, all bets are off.

[oasis]

31. Yes. CNN keeps repeating " Kerry's sensitive war on terror". over and over

They are attempting to let it stand it in its out of context form.

[Cuban_Liberal]

35. "Only an idiot picks a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel."

Old, old, OLD political wisdom.

[librechik]

37. Why not? They already lie & don't cover him; what would he lose? n/t

[Norquist Nemesis]

40. NOOOO!!! He needs to use the in the same way Bush does!

Use the soundbytes to respond to Bush by asking questions to bring up the issues.

Let the lower level surrogates (and us!!) do the criticizing and demand they report the truth.

[hope42mro]

41. No. Force the media to critique the media...

Every side of this campaign whines the press is against them. If Kerry calls the media "dishonest" and "bias" the Right would have a field day. Since the Right thinks most media is rampantly Liberal, they'll joke that Kerry can't win even with a press that supposedly favors him.

Plus we all know the popular journalism is not what it used to be: objective, thorough, skeptical of authority, etc. Modern journalists spend little effort filtering their personal bias out of their work.

So, like I said before, I think the press would do best by critiquing themselves and by highlighting blatant bias because it's simply unprofessional.

[Zhade]

43. Only if he wants to be destroyed by them like Dean was.

NT!