Next step for Downing St. Memo: Nightly News

[oxbow]

Following FAIR's call for more mainstream coverage of the "smoking gun
memo"--the secret British document containing new evidence that the Bush
administration manipulated intelligence to justify its plan to invade Iraq--a
steady trickle of news reports have appeared. But that coverage has been
downplayed in general and is still completely absent from the nightly news.
<....>

While the memo has begun to get wider coverage in print, broadcasters have
maintained a near silence on the issue. The story has turned up in a few short
CNN segments (Crossfire, 5/13/05; Live Sunday, 5/15/05; Wolf Blitzer Reports,
5/16/05), but the only mention of the memo FAIR found on the major broadcast
networks came on ABC's Sunday morning show This Week (5/15/05), in which host
George Stephanopoulos questioned Sen. John McCain about its contents. When
McCain declared that he didn't "agree with it" and defended the Bush
administration's decision to go to war, Stephanopoulos didn't question him
further. A look at the nightly news reveals not a single story aired about the
memo and its implications.

When finally questioned by CNN (5/16/05), White House press secretary Scott
McClellan claimed he hadn't seen the memo, but that "the reports" about it were
"flat-out wrong." British government officials, however, did not dispute the
contents of the memo--which can be read in full online at
http://downingstreetmemo.com/ --and a former senior American official called it
"an absolutely accurate description of what transpired" (Knight Ridder, 5/6/05).



This letter from FAIR today reminded me how hard we've worked here to get coverage by the papers, CNN and MSNBC among others for this disturbing story. The next step is to get it on the nightly news, which polls show more Americans still get their news from.

Let's make one final push to get this out, people. It's always better to call in person, so here are the phone #'s:

CONTACT:
ABC World News Tonight
Phone: [phone]

CBS Evening News
Phone: [phone]

NBC Nightly News
Phone: [phone]

PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Phone: [phone]



If you prefer EMAIL though, just paste this into your 'bcc:' slot:

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

Please don't let this important story be forgotten y'all. Im so f-ing proud of all of us!

[oxbow]

1. Edited to add excerpts.

[Coexist]

2. all right - I called the first two -

and both times I spoke with young twenty-somethings who didn't quite know where to transfer me for viewer feedback. I ended up leaving messages where I hope they'll be heard.

Can you get an extension or something - I tried to ask for the extension number for feedback, but to no avail. One woman said, "I don't know why they transferred you here, I'm not even in the news department".

Ugh.

[Dr Fate]

3. Why should Wolf Blitzer(R) talk about it if Dean, Kerry and Reid wont?

You want the news to spend 5 minutes on an issue- but top Democrats cant even take 15 seconds to mention it even once.

[annabanana]

5. OK.. We'll email them too....

It's only pressure that will do anything.
Lack of pressure guarantees that nothing will be done.

[Dr Fate]

6. Sure- we all must continue to BEG Democrats to discuss this issue.

I'm sure the only reason they have ignored it is because they just have not gotten enough e-mails to make them aware of how important this is to the base.

They have already gotten THOUSANDS of emails & phone calls about this- but sure, a few thousand more cant hurt, I guess.

The DEMS KNOW about the Memo and they KNOW that the base wants them to talk about this- but sure, e-mail and call them again. I've done it like four times already.

[annabanana]

4. done and, kickety

There's no reason NOT to send a couple of emails.

I said that I'd seen a couple of newspaper articles, and some information "on the internets" so to speak. I wondered why they didn't think it was important and expressed my hearfelt sorrow for those family members whose soldiers had been pushed in front of this trainwreck. (I also used the words LIE, LIES, LIED TO several times.)

[oxbow]

7. Don't despair guys

something is brewing on this. Rep Slaughter said on Olbermann that they would move forward with investigating this even if they have to do it on the lawn of the White House! I fucking believe her, too. She and Conyers and the other true believers won't let us down.

[TexasLawyer]

8. kick