FAIR has a new Action Alert reacting to reports that PBS‘s replacement for the retiring Bill Moyers and the canceled Now series will be headed by Newsweek editor Jon “Center-Right Nation” Meacham. To learn more or to send a message to PBS ombud Michael Getler, click here. Feel free to leave copies of your responses in the comments thread here.
Sent my letter! Thanks for the notice. I had seen Glenn Greenwald’s posting about this depressing possibility yesterday on Twitter, but needed FAIR’s well-timed email as a spur to action. Thanks again.
My letter…
Jon Meacham’s rumored consideration for a show that would replace hard-hitting independent programs Now and the Bill Moyers Journal sends a troubling message about PBS’s priorities.
Meacham is a fixture on commercial pundit shows in addition to his Newsweek duties. In these venues, he dispenses conventional wisdom with a pronounced conservative slant.
After the 2008 election, Meacham authored an article on America as a “center-right nation,” a conclusion based on dubious historical analogies– Sarah Palin is a kind of Thomas Jefferson? What?– and cherry-picking national election results, casting aside evidence that would undermine the conclusion.
He recently cheered on a Dick Cheney presidential run as “good for the country.” Troubling, especially since Meacham has argued that any critical investigations into the Bush/Cheney record on torture would be pointless (“the rough equivalent of pornography,” as he put it).
Meacham’s approach to journalism seems to be antithetical to the hard-hitting approach of Moyers and Now; he’s called on journalists to “cover other institutions as you would want to be covered,” with “charity and dignity and respect.”
This gentle Golden Rule approach to news was illustrated when he intervened in a Newsweek online story about Joe Scarborough, a personal friend who often invites Meacham on his cable show, to remove from the lead the fact that Scarborough had served as the defense attorney for the murderer of an abortion provider.
The last thing PBS needs is a news program featuring an insider pundit who uses his soapbox to provide compassionate-conservative bromides and cover for his Washington pals.
You will satisfy no one with this choice. Conservatives will never believe that a public television program is anything but liberally biased, and Meacham’s mealy middle-of-the-road conservatism will not assuage them. Meanwhile, your actual viewers, the sizable majority of the population who agree with center-left policies and perspectives, the people who put President Obama in office, will likely be alienated by Meacham’s rightward slant and insider protectionism.
Please don’t choose Jon Meacham.
Supporting partisan propaganda is not the same thing as offering two different sides to an issue. It’s the opposite of objectivity; it’s mutual subjectivity.
This is what I sent to the PBS ombudsman: I am horrified to learn that you are thinking to replace Bill Moyers with Jon Meacham of Newsweek, a conventional right-of-center pundit. That leaves PBS with noone in any way comparable to Moyers, and therefore with a lineup that avoids any outspoken voice from the left. As a public television station supported at least in part by viewers and the US government, you owe us something more. Progressives are also citizens, in case you hadn’t noticed, and there are a lot of us, despite how the press in general tries to pretend there aren’t.
My letter to PBS ombudsman:
I am distressed to learn that PBS is considering Jon Meacham as a replacement for Bill Moyers’ Journal. Mr. Meacham is a political ideologue, not an independent journalist. That his ideology is “centrist” does not change the fact that his first loyalty is not to the facts, wherever they may lead. Mr. Moyers should be replaced by a journalist who has deep experience in following leads, taking the political heat for it, and putting his/her faith and loyalty in citizens who need to know the truth. Please, think again.
Jon Meacham is no Bill Moyers. No way. America does not need yet another soapbox for a guy who thinks Dick Cheney should run for president because it would be good for the country and God should look like Billy Graham and have a southern accent. Giving Bill Moyers’ spot to Jon Meacham is a disservice to this nation.
Sent letter: “Oh please! Jon Meacham to replace Bill Moyers? Where are we supposed to turn for actual journalism? Not PBS, apparently. Where’s Jim Hightower when you need him?” Thanks for the alerts.
My letter…
I am SO appalled and disappointed that PBS is acting as if Jon Meacham is an adequate substitute for the hard-hitting, independent journalism of Now and Bill Moyers Journal.
Please, our country gets enough of his bias already — and we get so very little of the high caliber, honest, direct, respectful, intelligent get-to-the-unadulterated-truth shows like Now and Bill Moyers Journal. PLEASE — I expect more integrity from PBS — more truthful, fact-based journalism. I am beginning to get so disillusioned. Don’t let PBS fall into the inadequate, out-of-integrity conservative parrot-ish blithering that most of the mainstream media tries to sell us.
PBS is a station founded on the concepts of true education for the people. Now and Bill Moyers Journal delivered that – Jon Meacham NEVER has… and based on recent dubious statements, never will. We NEED shows truly like Now and Bill Moyers Journal.
Dear Michael Getler, PBS Ombudsman
Regardless of its motivation, I continue to be dismayed by PBS’s shift to the right and its disingenuous efforts to present itself as maintaining fairness and balance while doing so.
I am grateful that the internet is providing us with alternatives, for you are losing many of us whose respect you have had for decades.
Of course, you cannot publicly disclose the primary reason for the change because of the threat of loss of corporate sponsorship, but most of us realize this nevertheless.
It would take the sort of courage to resist the dangerous direction in which American media are headed that would appear to be sorely absent in today’s PBS corporate offices, as well as most other media dependent upon corporate largesse.
A conversation with a European over 75 years old or a detailed reading of early 20th Century European history might assist you in understanding the reasons for my concern.
Regretfully,
Ange Lobue, MD, MPH, BSPharm
American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
trinidadca@gmail.com
Here’s what I sent to PBS. I don’t think they’ll print it.
“What the hell is the matter with PBS and why do they keep screwing Bill Moyers? He is one of their biggest assets. I stopped watching NOW when they replaced Moyers with David Brancaccio. If they cancel Moyers now I won’t have any reason to watch PBS.”
This is like switching from a hearty full grain loaf of bread that gives your digestion something to work with, to plain white “balloon” bread where you have no idea what you are eating because someone else is adding all the so called nutrients.
Bill Moyer and Now give my mind and intelect something to “chew on.” To loose access to that kind of television journalism will leave me with no choice at all. PBS will cease to be the provocative and challenging program source I have chosen to watch.
My viewing and supporting of PBS will sadly be gone.
Dear Mr. Getler,
I am distressed to think that PBS would replace Now and Bill Moyers Journal with a conservative pundit. There is enough of the conservatively slanted commentary on the cable networks without letting it supplant accurate and insightful quality journalism.
What a disappointment to know that PBS is simply pandering to the loud cries of the conservative minority rather than adhering to its mission of representing all the people as the “public broadcast system”. I no longer subscribe to Newsweek because it has lost its cutting journalistic edge. I counted on PBS producing real hard-hitting news, not pandering to the whim of the vocal far right.
Regards,
Margaret Gundersen
Here is a copy of the letter I sent to the PBS ombudsman:
Dear PBS,
As a long time contributor over the years to PBS programming, it was troubling to hear how that Jon Meacham will host Need to Know. Mr. Meacham is a middle of the road Republican point of view which we already hear enough of on TV. This also means that public television still needs to find suitable replacements for the hard-hitting, independent journalism of Now and Bill Moyers Journal. God bless Bill Moyers and his insight into significant issues facing this country.
This trend in replacing what some call “liberal media” commentators is scary coming from PBS. If this continues I think you will be faced with a lot of viewers like myself dropping out of sight, and not supporting local PBS.
This is extremely disappointing news.
Michael Nagin
I just sent this:
What are you doing at PBS? While it will be difficult to replace Bill Moyers, you must not abandon us to the likes of Jon Meacham. And is there truly a George Bush “think tank” show in the offing? I watch less and less of PBS as your programing has become less cutting edge. Who are you courting? Who do you imagine will buy your soul? I regret sounding rude here, but I am very upset.
A note from a reader:
Here is what I sent to PBS Ombudsman. I would like you to publish it on your blog.
I have learned that there is not a thing fair and balanced about John Meacham. He can IN NO WAY replace the hard-hitting investigative journalism of Bill Moyers or even the milder David Brancaccio. Meacham said investigating the torture memos and possible illegal actions of Cheney and Bush would be “like pornography.”
Perhaps pressure from the right wing to have one of their own is a PBS priority It explains the defense of the unconscionable attack on Howard Zinn in an NPR obituary quoting 3 savage sentences accusing the historian of teaching children everything wrong.
But PBS needs to be fair balanced and meet the need for investigative reporting from the left or progressive position. Moyers was virtually alone among all press and media with the sole exception of the Olbermann/Maddow shows on MSNBC. If Moyers is replaced by Meacham on PBS it will be a travesty and unfair attack on a broad spectrum of opinion in this nation.
More than half the country supports single payer health care and a string public option, more than half want the Iraq and other wars ended, more than half wanted investigation of possible impeachable offenses by Bush and Cheney.
So long as these views are consistently ignored by the major media in this country, we do not have a free press or a balanced access to the information needed to make decisions. That means we do not have free country.
Now that the Supreme Court is allowing unfettered free expression by corporations AS THOUGH THEY WERE PERSONS, and unlimited spending to push their opinions and economic values, again we have no real freedom of speech or press not overwhelmed by money. That is not free.
PBS has until now had a reputation for independence and fairness which you are about to lose. That loss will seal the fate of freedom and balance in the media. Then I will have to rank Jon Stewart’s Daily Show as a more reliable news source.
Mary Ellen Marino
What I posted…
Dear Mr. Getler:
I am extremely distressed to learn that, as Bill Moyers’ Journal and Now are shut down, PBS is considering Jon Meacham to be co-host of its forthcoming Need to Know program.
Meacham’s approach to journalism seems to be antithetical to the hard-hitting approach of Moyers and Now; he’s called on journalists to “cover other institutions as you would want to be covered,” with “charity and dignity and respect.”
If PBS moves in this direction, members of the public will get a severe disservice! We need PBS to uphold the highest standards of journalism and hold those in power to account.
Sincerely,
I sent the following letter to Getler…
Dear Mr. Getler:
Your reported plans to replace “Now” and “Bill Moyers Journal” with a show called “Need To Know”, hosted by Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham, mocks the PBS mission and insults millions. We don’t need yet another so-called centrist (that is, politely right wing) program on the public airways. Indeed, instead of eliminating the PBS schedule’s only two programs that present incisive commentary and critical information pervasively ignored by the mainstream media, you should be retaining them and giving them more time!
Replacing the excellent Bill Moyers Journal and NOW with a show hosted by Newsweek’s Jon Meacham is an insult to your viewers! Meacham thinks it’s a good idea for Cheney to run for president and that alone should disqualify him, not to mention his center-right position on everything else. This is disgusting, and now there will be no reason to watch or support PBS.
Another thing: it is sickening to hear Monsanto ads on PBS! How low can you go? How far have you descended from your mandate? You’ve become another shill for corporate propaganda, when you were supposed to be the antidote. Also nauseating are your new ads for Booz Allen, the spooky security firm. What’s up with all this? Ken Tomlinson’s spirit still lives at PBS!
”Of course, some sources get more than their share “charity, dignity and respect,” as when Meacham remarked about interviewing Rev. Billy Graham (Imus in the Morning, 6/27/05): “It was amazing. I went in and I realized this is what God probably was going to look like. The white hair, the blue eyes, he’ll have a Southern accent, that’s the way it should be, I think.”
While Now and Bill Moyers Journal are notable for holding politicians feet to the fire, Meacham uses much more generous standards. After Cheney and right-wing Democratic Sen. Zell Miller gave speeches at the 2004 Republican National Convention that were filled with blatant distortions–accusing Democratic candidate John Kerry of being opposed to all U.S. weapons systems because he had voted against a Pentagon appropriations bill, for instance (FAIR Media Advisory, 9/3/04)–Meacham (MSNBC, 9/1/04) called it “a brilliant tactical night, one of the most brilliant in the age of television. These were two concise, rather devastating rhetorical hits at John Kerry…. They did not miss anything that they could hit.”
I respectfully submit that this action be reconsidered
C. Abraira, M.D.
My comment to Michael Getler, PBS ombudsman, on Newsweek for Moyers and Now: March 10, 2010…
Your decision to drop Bill Moyers and Now in favor of a talking head from Newsweek marks a new low for the public’s access through PBS to informed, thoughtful, serious discussion and insight regarding US policies, business and labor behaviors, and real-world context, including back-story principals and current participants. How shallow of you to dumb down and diminish the public space. Your decision to embrace trendy breezy entertaining commentators in pursuit of horse-race chatter, in lieu of underlying in-depth reportage, hollows out your mission’s integrity at the core.
Dear Mr. Getler,
As you may know, Doris “Granny D” Haddock, longtime activist against nuclear power and FOR campaign finance reform, died last night at age 100. It is in honor of her that I am writing to you today.
The retirement of Bill Moyers (the loss of Bill Moyers Journal) is a great loss â┚¬“ even to people who don’t watch him. Moyers stands for all that is decent in American culture, as Granny D did. Bill Moyers too is a National Treasure. I hope, but do not know, that Moyers’s “decision” to retire was his alone.
Troubling times, to say the least. And now we learn that PBS plans to bring in Jon Meacham. To REPLACE Moyers? What an insult â┚¬“ to Moyers, to your viewers.
Here for example is a wee snippit from his Facebook page last November: “Liz Cheney may have been joking on Fox News, but I think there is a good case that Dick Cheney should run for president. He has strongly-held views that the Obama administration is endangering our national security, so why not take his case to the people and see what happens?”
Meachum is a subtle slanter toward the right. Moyers was a humanist and a TRUE Journalist. I am surprised and disheartened somewhat to see PBS taking this direction. I does make one wonder whether all the good people are dying out, but then I remember Severn Suzuki â┚¬“ and Amy Goodman and her Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman in fact is an idea replacement for Bill Moyers. Although she does not have quite the breadth & beauty of Bill’s soul, she is an outstanding journalist in the true sense of the word. Please consider giving her a spot.
Dear Mr. Getler:
I’m writing regarding PBS’s recently publicized decision to place Jon Meacham at the helm of its new weekly news program Need to Know. As you are aware, Need to Know, by design or coincidence, will be charged with filling the sizable hole left in PBS’s news division by the simultaneous departure of both Now and the Bill Moyer’s Journal. Both programs consistently distinguish themselves as sources of long-form and investigative journalism, an endangered species of reporting that, despite its necessity, is increasingly absent from our airways. Mr. Moyer’s show and Now collectively offer their viewers the rare opportunity to hear extended analysis of important events and the articulate expression of opinions outside the realm of conventional beltway wisdom. At a time when television news is becoming more commercialized, more provincial, more risk-averse and less diverse in its treatment of the topics of the day, these programs continue to perform journalism’s most essential functions: speaking truth to power, afflicting the comfortable, and comforting the afflicted.
Unfortunately, your selection of Mr. Meacham, who is a product of the beltway rather than a thorn in its side, leaves me with little hope that Need to Know will have the vision or conviction of its distinguished predecessors. I urge you to take steps to ensure that hard-hitting investigative journalism and unflinching political commentary do not disappear from PBS, one of the few remaining sources for such content on television.
Yours truly,
ZR
Here is my letter to the PBS guy:
Mr. Getler:
I understand that PBS is considering replacing Bill Moyers and the Now staff.
Unless Bill and David and Maria do not want to continue to offer their insightful support for our dying democracy, it is my fervent hope that PBS will air its reasoning for depriving its viewers of the Moyers and the Now approach to the most important topics of our time. More than any other parts of PBS’ programming, these programs weigh in powerfully toward balancing the media giants’ support of protected market-dominated viewpoints.
Therefore, insofar as PBS is public, it should accord its loyal viewers the respect of an explanation for removal of these two intelligent programs. Would not an open airing of PBS’ reasoning–with an opportunity for viewers to voice their opinions and, most importantly, PBS’ willingness to retain Moyers and the Now staff–be a valuable contribution to the justification for its use of the public airways?
This issue is leading me to ask “Who is PBS?” and “What is its mission?”
Thank you for your attention.
I look forward to your reply.
Nancy Erickson
As supporters of PBS and subscribers to Newsweek, it is clear to us that Jon Meacham is no replacement for Moyers ore NOW. He does not cut into the cake to delve its nature, he frosts it with a coating of his own. I am awfully distbured at the deceptive posture PBS is taking. It speaks of behind the scenes forces operating in the service of unacknowledged intentions, undermining the original spirit of public programing. We may have to withdraw our support.
If PBS thinks Meacham is a good replacement for Moyers and NOW there is no reason for me to continue watching/listening/supporting PBS.
As supporters of PBS and subscribers to Newsweek, it is clear to us that Jon Meacham is no replacement for Moyers ore NOW. He does not cut into the cake to delve its nature, he frosts it with a coating of his own. I am awfully disturbed at the deceptive posture PBS is taking. It speaks of behind the scenes forces operating in the service of unacknowledged intentions, undermining the original spirit of public programing. We may have to withdraw our support.
Jon Meacham?
Bill Moyers is an extraordinary journalist and obviously not easy to replace. David Brancaccio has done a superb job after taking over NOW. I can imagine that PBS has been getting flack for not following the usual corporate media censorship of stories that expose corporate misdeeds. The PBS response seems to be to eliminate hard-hitting journalism and bring in yet another corporate cheerleader.
It’s time to change the name from Pubic Broadcasting System (PBS) to Corporate Broadcasting System (CBS).
There’s already a CBS, you might say?? That’s exactly my point!!
I am appalled at the idea of replacing Moyers with Meacham. Even using the now poisonous phrase, “fair and balanced” to describe Meacham is to give him much more credit than he has earned or deserves. Cheney should run for president? Billy Graham looks like God? This is a decision reminiscent of replacing Thurgood Marshall with Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court solely because they are both African Americans. Have we finally lost even PBS to Corporate America?
Please reconsider this dreadful decision.
Stuart Yahm
Dear Mr. Getler:
This letter is in regards Newsweek editor Jon Meacham to be co-host of its forthcoming Need to Know program (New York Times, 3/9/10. I am truly appalled at your inability to make a decent choice, and the lack of any real distinction to even suggest Jon Meacham as co-host and the successor to Bill Meyers Journal. Do not think for a second that this watered down choice, will delude the public with such a blatant sham as this really is.
Howard Zazove
Replacing an independent voice like Bill Moyers with yet ANOTHER biased conservative crony is an outrageous possibility! PBS has been the only channel we could TRUST! Apparently no more! Here is what I wrote to PBS:
Now and Bill Moyers Journal provide a breath of fresh air among otherwise corrupted media sources. If PBS sells its viewers down the river by caving in and replacing them with the likes of Jon Meacham, I am putting you on notice that I will NEVER again contribute one penny to public television — and I usually give several hundred dollars per year. I would consider that a betrayal of the public trust!
Please don’t take the Bill Moyers’ Journal and NOW off the air. I know Mr. Moyers is retiring but I wonder if his retirement is somehow being forced by PBS/CPB as his absence a couple of years ago was. These shows are extremely important in that they let us know what’s going on in our government and around us socially in a very fair and unbiased manner. You may feel that the shows have a leftward slant although they are really all about independent reporting. The material that is reported on is honestly and straightforwardly discussed including the pros and the cons. If Mr. Moyers’ retirement is his decision, it would be great if NOW were given a full hour for its stories as it always seems the half hour isn’t enough.
I read that a new show entitled Need To Know hosted by Jon Meacham will replace these shows. While this might hold some water if Moyers and NOW remain on the air, only having this show on tilts the conversation to the center-right/conservative, which Meacham has clearly stated is his position. He is against anything progressive to the point of skewing articles and forgetting facts. His appearance on PBS would clearly change the direction of what has been a programming history of independence at PBS and I just can’t help but wonder who is paying you to do this.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak out on issues affecting public broadcasting and PBS.
My letter to PBS: I have been watching PBS since it first started and expect PBS to give me the best version of the “truth” about issues that can be determined. I expect “REAL” journalism from PBS — not yet a another new source which quotes “talking points” and takes at face value the words of government and corporate leaders.
How can you possibly replace Bill Moyers which someone as vapid as Bill Meachem? He does not investigate to find what is really going on about anything as his views are certainly extremely one sided. Bill Moyers just went after the truth by finding the facts and talking to real people with expertise — not the talking head pundits with no actual deep expertise in anything and only an interest in pontificating on the politics horse race effects of every public issue — not on the implications for the public.
PBS’s choice of Jon Meacham to replace Bill Moyers is a horror and an embarrassment. If this were not for real, it would make great satire. By replicating rightwing programming slants, PBS will be largely eliminating the entire purpose of “public tv” in public affairs: to provide a neutral or contrarian view, something audiences can’t find in the commercial sphere. We need fresh thinking and fresh perspectives like Moyers’, not neocon retreads like Meacham.
Dear Mr. Getler:
The recent announcement that both “NOW” and “Bill Moyer’s Journal” will be terminated this season I find both shocking and cheated. And now hearing that one of these programs is to be replaced by a program called “Need to Know” to be co-hosed by Jon Meacham is truly upsetting. It would be one thing to add “Need to Know” to PBS’ programming lineup as a possible balance to “NOW” and “Bill Moyer’s Journal” it is another to have it replace these two outstanding programs. This I interpreted as a change in PBS’ direction to remove progressive programming in favor of a more conservative and less challenging direction of reporting. With such a decision you can no longer count on my support at PBS.
Sincerely,
Raymond Lanier
Here’s what I wrote to Michael Getler:
“If Jon Meacham is to replace NOW and Bill Moyers’ Journal, who is going to replace the center-left viewpoint on PBS? Certainly, the man who said of Billy Graham, “— I realized this is what God probably was going to look like. The white hair, the blue eyes, he’ll have a Southern accent, that’s the way it should be, I think.”
PBS, which uses the public airwaves and public funding to convey its message, has a responsibility to cover more of the political spectrum than merely the center-right to far-right viewpoint. Meacham is incapable of turning his head to the left.
Please, don’t give me any “highest standards” claptrap. Tell me who will speak for the center left to far left (names, please) or explain why that is not necessary in the view of PBS.”
The ombudsman’s response screen gives a tipoff to how PBS will respond: “The ombudsman’s column will address significant issues related to how PBS upholds its own standards of editorial integrity.”
Now we know that PBS upholds its _own_ standards and none other. So if its own standards move steadily rightward, we’ve been warned.
I’ll tell you this:I’ve done all the contributing and lobbying for government funding of this sham _public_ broadcasting system that I’m going to do in this life.
I sent this to PBS:
Please do not replace Bill Moyers’s shows with your proposed NEED TO KNOW. Moyers is probably the most distinguished non-self-serving journalist on the air. I think this would be a huge mistake. I rely on NOW and BILL MOYERS JOURNAL more than any other shows. THE NEWS HOUR h as already fallen in my eyes, along with WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW, with its smug, cynical tone. Please keep Bill Moyers
I sent an email to PBS urging them to continue having Bill Moyers on his own current program. Bill Moyers is one of the best investigative journalists of our time and he has the courage to go after tough stories that all Americans and the world need to know about.
I urged PBS/WTTW to “Be More Independent & Progressive”…Newsweek is neither.
Keep Bill Moyers on the air and maybe add a show featuring Phil Donahue, too.
I told PBS, that they know better than anyone else that right wing media has an overwhelming majority of the media and that imbalance is dangerous for any society.
We don’t need a commercial TV & Newsweek pundit to host another show. Meacham is fine for what he does but cannot replace the likes of Moyers & Brancaccio. We need hard hitting, independent investigative reporting.
NOW and the Moyers Journal are among the best at what they do. Keep NOW and Bill Moyers. Thank you.
My comment submitted to PBS on the website you sent us (thank you!):
I remember the time, not long past, when PBS offered Americans news that was a genuine alternative to the corporate-aligned political interests that were represented by the commercial networks. PBS strove to offer objectivity and truth. The fact that PBS is now even CONSIDERING replacing programs such as Now and the Bill Moyers Journal with the dictates of the so-called right as obsequiously repeated by Jon Meacham means that PBS has chosen a pathetically irresponsible path which shames those people who started PBS. I hope you enjoy your anticipated gifts from the corporate powers.
Bill Moyer’s and his Journal hold a unique spot in television news magazine coverage. His Journal is one of the few relevant news programs left willing to take on the big issues facing our country in a straightforward no nonsense way. Moyers has big shoes to fill and, in my opinion the choice of Jon Meacham to fill them is a definite move backward. What PBS needs to stay relevant isn’t an editor from an old fashioned print news magazine. What PBS needs is someone on the cutting edge, perhaps someone high profile from Salon.com as an example.
My Letter:
PBS’s replacement of independent hard hitting journalist Bill Moyers and the program Now with with Jon Meacham is an excellent example of what’s wrong with the media. Meacham’s jornalism is sketchy at best. PBS needs someone who is going to challenge politicians and not dance around the point with stupid metaphors and factless comparrisons. The so called “High Level of News” PBS maintains seems to be falling fast. If you want to keep those high standards, please reconsider your choice for replacement.
I am appalled. Just posted this letter to PBS:
I am strongly opposed to your hiring Jon Meacham in any capacity, let alone as a replacement for Now and Bill Moyers. If I wanted shallow, partisan reporting I would watch broadcast TV or cable news. If you go forward, I will stop all financial support or PBS and I will join any movement for your removal.
It has come to my attention that your Friday night shows NOW and Bill Moyer’s Journal will be replaced in May by a new series, “Need to Know.” What I NEED TO KNOW is why this change is being instituted. I am a subscriber to WQED, and NOW and Bill Moyers are among the shows I regularly watch. I have relied on these shows to provide in-depth, insightful, and highly informative journalism. I have been a faithful fan of Bill Moyers for decades. I NEED TO KNOW if this was his decision to terminate his show, or if this has been instigated by PBS. If it is the latter, YOU NEED TO KNOW that you have permanently lost my support. I will not be a member of a TV station that ousted one of the finest journalists of the 20th century! And David Brancaccio and his team run a close second. If Moyers and Brancaccio are leaving of their own accord, they need to be replaced by equally hard-hitting, investigative, independent journalism. You need to be transparent and tell your members what is going on behind your closed doors in terms of this deal. WE WANT TO KNOW!
Sincerely, Ann T. Rosenthal
My Letter
To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.
– Edward R. Murrow.
I have been a life long watcher of PBS, thus far. For the record I am 26, a mother and a student of music and life. I remember my father sitting me on his lap for the McNeil-Leherer Report. I remember Sesame Street, and Julia Child. Growing up with PBS has helped foster civic appreciation, but civic responsibility—and above all: Critical thinking.
This hiring of Meachem fellow will not further the goals of PBS. In a time when the average citizen no longer has any faith in their civic leaders, moral counselors, and the Fourth Estate with in the framework that is our lives espoused int he medial as we see today. For the last refuge of thought and the search for ‘Just the Facts Ma’am’ to be set aside, for it is not popular or of pressure astounds me. I though PBS was rock hard against the feudalism that is occurring in our broadcasting media. I guess I was wrong.
I am sad, after Moyers and Brancaccio goes, I have NOTHING left to show my daughter as to what REAL journalism is and could be. The honorable tradition started by Studs Terkel, Edward R. Murrow, and fostered by the heroic age of journalists in the late fifties to seventies of the last century-WILL be NOTHING now but the dust on our feet, and wires in a box.
Is Journalism worth anything to you, anything at all. It means something to me. It means that the powerful who are raging through this country unchecked can be seen in their honest form, it means that we can avert great crises with out having to shed the blood of innocents and the blood of our son and daughters in fruitless combat that has nothing whatsoever to do with our tangible security. Real journalism means standing up for democracy when it needs a friend that it can count on-not a friend speaking empty praises, and hidden daggers.
With out real journalism speaking and investigating for the truth as fact in the halls and highways of power-democracy cannot exist! It JUST CANNOT!!
I am not advocating US versus THEM.
I am advocating if REAL HONEST AND FACT BASED JOURNALISM DIES…WE ALL PAY THE PRICE!
Meachem and his brand of infotainment is a huge brick down the well intentioned path…Its just-I do not think its leading where you believe its going-to know for sure takes Gumshoe Journalism that the talking heads of the day do not nor will not HAVE the stomach for.
Today, you have become Murrow’s greatest fear…
Sorry about the typos-but my Liver was on fire!
Submitted to PBS in response to info from FAIR:
Regarding a replacement for Bill Moyers (as if that were possible), I encourage you to choose an incisive journalist who does not swap truth for access. We need to get to the reality of the issues that are changing the world for better and for worse, where the investigator and interviewer are absolutely unfettered by ruffling feathers in the high echelons of corporate. political and military domains. It appears that the candidacy of Jon Meacham of Newsweek does not fit the bill. Please reconsider. Thanks for listening
Dear Mr. Getler,
It’s bad enough that Bill Moyers is retiring. But replacing him with Jon Meacham?? I’d rather see PBS shut down â┚¬“ and you might as well if you’re going to abandon the kind of journalism that sustains democracy.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Remington
I was dismayed to learn PBS is choosing Jon Meacham to host Need to Know. He is an unsuitable replacement for the network’s premier journalistic efforts, Now and Bill Moyers Journal. You must continue the search. The best television journalist working today, in my opinion as a working photojournalist, is Amy Goodman, who produces a daily show. You might interview James Fallows or Frank Rich or Matt Taibbi.
Bill Moyers Journal is the only reason I watch or contribute to PBS. Replacing a real journalist like Moyers with a corporate hack like Jon Meacham is not only a sure way to shed viewers like myself, but it will confirm our doubts about the commitment to journalistic integrity at PBS. I am not interested in what Jon Meacham thinks I “Need to Know.” Please–if you think this is actually going to be some kind of replacement you are wrong–this is an insult.
I understand you are in final talks with John Meacham to co-host a new show Need to Know, which would replace NOW and Bill Moyers Journal. I find this totally unacceptable and contrary to what these former shows stand for and the message they deliver. If Mr. Meacham is on PBS, I might as well any other cable network which is what he represents. I know that I will not hear the truth as I do now with NOW and Bill Moyers Journal. As a long-time supporter of PBS, I fear that my future donations will be nil if this is the direction that PBS decides to take.
Dear Mr. Getler:
Please tell me it isn’t true! I have watched Bill Moyers programs on public TV for something like 25 years. If he is taken off the air for a rightwing middle-of-the-roader corporate spokesperson, I will never forgive KCET or BPS.
William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.
http://ssrn.com/author=1053589
InternetVoting@gmail.com
My letter to PBS’ Omsbudsman:
From earlier scuttlebutt and now, today, from FAIR, I see that PBS is replacing Bill Moyers Journal and Brancaccio & Hinojosa’s NOW with something new hosted by Jon Meacham. Although I occasionally see Meacham and don’t find him offensive, he is just another type telling us what we already know. I know PBS had to drop Moyers previously when some sponsors probably were loosing $$$ here and there,but if PBS continues to go down the same drain where ABC, CBS and NBC can already take us, then I see no reason for further support of Oregon Public Broadcast, my PBS station.
It is frightening when nothing in the US but more dollars into the pockets of the oligarchy is all we see for the future.
Of course, don’t waste your time listening to writers like me: we could never overcome the lobby that finally has broken PBS and is working hard to do the same to NPR. Sad, sad, sad.
A decades long listener and PBS/NPR supporter in Eugene, Oregon
My letter to PBS:
I was saddened to learn that Bill Moyers would be retiring from PBS. His program is a final frontier of good journalism, covering the important issues of today with courage, honesty and probing investigative questions of the key decision makers. Now I am distressed to learn that PBS is considering replacing him with editor Jon Meacham, not know for impartiality or decent journalism or investigative reporting. This move snuffs out another small light of hope for a civilization based on an informed populace and opens more doors for a new Dark Ages of ignorance, fear, inequality and violence. My money and support will no longer go to this kind of PBS. I do not consider this move as one in the PUBLIC’s benefit, and doubt PBS’s role as a Public Broadcasting system.
Sent the following:
I understand that PBS considering replacment of Bill Moyers with establishment wonk Jon Meacham. I strongly feel that this is not in the interest of the public which PBS was established to serve. In a media landscape that consistently pushes the corporate viewpoint, Bill Moyers brings compelling and important stories not covered anywhere else in the press. Replacing Bill with an establishment shill like Jon Meacham leaves the public out of any real independent, hard-hitting journalism for which we depend on the Public Broadcasting System. I am a loyal public media consumer and would never deem to tell you how to run PBS, but this move appears to mean that public television has decided not to find any suitable replacement for the hard-hitting, independent journalism of Now and Bill Moyers Journal. That would indeed be bitterly disappointing.
I forgot to copy my letter before I sent it, but I echoed many of the sentiments in the letters above, and closed with the statement that I will no longer support or watch PBS if Meacham (an establishment stenographer and conservative ideologue) is hired.
I sent the following to PBS:
PBS has a long history of producing and airing programs and voices unheard and unseen on commercial networks. Due to political and cultural pressures from the Right, PBS has diminished its left-leaning voices and programming which is critical of the status quo. Particularly missing are programs which do investigative reporting on a regular basis.
The loss of NOW and Bill Moyers will leave a gaping hole in PBS’ essential role as a voice for the disenfranchised and powerless. Their replacement with a mainstream conservative such as Jon Meacham (or anyone else with his perspective) would remove alternative voices and visions from our collective consciousness, and permit the powers-that-be to operate without critical analysis or oversight.
Please reconsider, and bring back Bill Moyers/NOW or replace them with more critical, analytical and investigative shows in the great tradition of Edward R. Murrow.
Thanks in advance for your assistance–
The following is what I posted to the PBS ombudsman:
It would be quite inappropriate to appoint Jon Meacham to replace Bill Moyers and/or Mr. Bronccachio(?). Please readjust your priorities and find someone who is more like the two gentlemen you will be replacing. Otherwise, PBS will lose it’s credibility, as well as thousands, if not millions, of viewers and monetary supporters.
I do not “Need to Know” what the establlishment inside-the-beltway pundits are saying. I see and hear it all the time, and usually those people are completely out of touch with what Americans really think.
Replacing Bill Moyers and NOW with Jon Meacham to give us more of the same old same old blinkered congratulatory “analysis” is a sick joke.
Moyers and NOW did what I thought PBS was created to do: they gave us real news stories we wouldn’t have heard from corporate media. I am a former journalist, and I know the difference between pompous pontification dismissing opinions held by a majority of Americans as “the left-wing fringe” and the kind of real information and knowledgeable analysis we need to participate in democracy.
PBS, be PBS. We already have “Me,too,” and we don’t need more of it.
wrote to :PBS….If you replace Bill Moyers with Jon Meacham you will not get one more red cent from me EVER…..Consider Amy Goodman, Jeremy Scahill, Norman Solomon,. Jeff Cohen, Bill Mahr, Laura Flanders, Joe Conason, Katrina vandenHeuvel, BUT PARTICULARLY ,CHRIS HEDGES…..IF YOU REALLY WANT YOUR LISTENERSHIP TO RISE! as if you had the guts!!!
Posted at PBS:
The choice of Jon Meacham to host “Need to Know” is a great disappointment.
public television still needs to find suitable replacements for the hard-hitting, independent journalism of Now and Bill Moyers Journal.
Replacements for the independent journalism of Now and Bill Moyers Journal.
We don’t need more cheer leading for the failed status quo. The popular pundits bear great responsibility for where we find ourselves now. They had a voice and failed in using it. They don’t deserve to be broadly heard anymore.They pander to the popular ill informed opinion, it seems to be viewed as correct to the majority.
All we have now from anybody is cliché, and the obvious.
We need those who tell uncomfortable truths, who question, and are skeptical. Not those who pass on the lie told for so long, that for them it has become the truth.
Please replace the aforementioned shows with something other than “McMedia” Your future audience depends on it.
I am a member of Public Broadcasting Atlanta and get Georgia Public Broadcasting so that I can watch hard hitting independent journalism like Now and Bill Moyers Journal. If I wanted to watch a news program with with a journalist like Jon Meacham, I would subscribe to cable or satellite TV and watch Fox news. I am interested in news not propaganda and I do not expect PBS to to be a provider of that kind of television news.
My 3/12/10 updated letter to PBS Getler”:
Bill Moyer’s replacement”+Jon Meachum..just won’t do!!! Instead ask Naomi Klein,Chris Hedges,Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman to take over Moyer’s Hour each month, either in single rotation, as a pair, or in any number. Each is a seasoned print, radio, or Internet- TV journalist ,well-respected and with a large core following. Such a coup will ensure PBS tv channels across the nation will be watched and supported like never before. Do you and your overseers have the vision and courage to promote and realize such a influencial quadruple truthteller powerhouse in place at 9pm each and every Friday Night? I dread to answer this hypothetical!
SAY IT AIN’T SO, PBS… I’ve followed every Bill Moyers show for about 25 years now, and started my son watching it at age 9. He could talk a blue streak about politics by 6th grade!
PBS, How could you disrespect us, our intelligence, so much? What about your appeals during fundraising, toting how great PBS is for its NON compromising shows … you appeal to us for money, because we are intelligent viewers who know how great Moyers is …. and you replace him with essentially the same old crap. Forget it, you are sell outs.
Moyers fans, DO NOT GIVE A DIME AND WRITE LETTERS OF PROTEST.
So how about AMY GOODMAN as a replacement? Don’t you realize that people WANT HARD HITTING INVESTIGATIVE, SMART JOURNALISM?
Thanks for the Action Alert. I sent off this quickie to the PBS ombudsperson:
Hello. I’ve just learned of PBS’ decision to have Jon Meacham co-host the new Need to Know program. Please tell me that this program is not intended to replace Bill Moyers’ Journal and Now. The excellent, independent, hard-hitting journalism exemplified by these two programs will not be easily replaced, but PBS is going to try, isn’t it?
I just discovered, to my horror, that Bill Moyers will no longer be on by beloved PBS television. And then, to compound that horror, I see that PBS wants to bring the “polar opposite” of Mr. Moyers into my living. I am speaking of John Meacham. If I wanted to watch and listen to reporters of his ilk, I would simply tune into Fox news each night. I don’t, and never will. I will now have to seriosly consider any future financial contribution to PBS. I am very disappointed.
My submission to the ombudsman:
How can the mediocre Jon Meacham possibly replace the brilliant and thoughtful Bill Moyers and David Brancaccio in a new â┚¬Ã…“newsâ┚¬Ã‚ program? This looks to be a move to scratch progressive investigative reporting from PBS, one of the last places in the media world where such reporting has been provided.
My submission:
I am deeply saddened by the retirement of Bill Moyers. His “Journal” is one of a handful of quality, thoughtful news shows that still exist in the U.S.
Too many journalists are too quick to pander to the elites that run this country. John Meacham and Newsweek are representative of this bland, thoughtless, sound-bite driven news.
John Meacham is not a replacement for Bill Moyers. Please help keep alive what little is left of serious, thoughtful public discourse in this country. Please replace “Now” and “Bill Moyers Journal” with programs of equal substance.
My letter:
THIS PROGRAM WAS THE LAST BASTION OF HOPE FOR CITIZENS IN THIS WRETCHED NATION IN DESPERATE NEED FOR ACTUAL INFORMATION — NOT OPINIOTAINMENT.
I WILL MISS IT DESPERATELY. PLEASE KEEP THE ARCHIVES OF THE PROGRAMS ON YOUR WEBSITE.
HIS PROGRAM WAS THE ONLY REASON WE USED TO SEND DONATIONS. I THINK I’M GOING TO CRY.
I am extremely troubled by your choice of Jon Meacham for a show that would replace the only hard-hitting independent programs Now and the Bill Moyers Journal. This choice sends a clear and troubling message about PBS’s priorities.
In addition to his duties as editor of NEWSWEEK, Meacham is a fixture on commercial pundit shows offering nothing more than middle-of-the-road conventional wisdom with a very definite conservative slant. While Now and Bill Moyers Journal are notable for holding politicians feet to the fire, Meacham’s views are biased as when he determined after the â┚¬Ã‹Å“08 elections that the U.S. is a centerâ┚¬“right nation ignoring entirely the actual result of the elections and cherry-picking information that would support his views while casting aside evidence that would undermine his conclusions. In November 09, he cheered on a Dick Cheney presidential run as “good for the Republicans and good for the country” despite the actual facts of his remarkably low approval ratings amongst the country. Meacham’s approach to journalism is completely antithetical to the hard-hitting approach of Moyers and Now. Meacham believes in a â┚¬Ã…“Golden Ruleâ┚¬Ã‚ approach to news which was illustrated when he intervened in a Newsweek online story about Joe Scarborough, a personal friend, where he didn’t mention the fact that Scarborough had served as the defense attorney for the murderer of an abortion provider. You decision to choose Jon Meacham to host Need to Know would mean that public television still needs to find suitable replacements for the hard-hitting, independent journalism of Now and Bill Moyers Journal. It leaves PBS with no one in any way comparable to Moyers, and therefore with a lineup that avoids any outspoken voice from the left. As a public television station supported in part by viewers and the US government, you owe us something more. Progressives are also citizens, in case you hadn’t noticed, and there are a lot of us, despite how the press in general tries to pretend we don’t exist. You will satisfy no one with this choice. Conservatives won’t believe that a public television program is anything but liberally biased, and Meacham’s mealy middle-of-the-road conservatism will not assuage them. Meanwhile, your actual viewers, the sizable majority of the population who agree with center-left policies and perspectives, the people who put President Obama in office, will likely be alienated by Meacham’s rightward slant and insider protectionism. Why should we bother to support PBS â┚¬Ã…“with contributions like yoursâ┚¬Ã‚ if you continue to ignore the preferences of those who have supported you.
This is what send to PBS:
“Why Jon Meacham? I am puzzle. We need fair minded independent Journalists tell it as it is and not afraid to speak the truth. I would like to see Glenn Greenwald or even Amy Goodman hosting a weekly show in PBS. Please do not email me for donation. We just walk out from our home from Union City, CA.”
As sent to PBS:
I will certainly NOT be donating again to public tv now that you have demonstrated your stupidity by canceling two of the few remaining investigative reports in media. You are consciously contributing to the continued dumbing-down of America. I’m turning off my pbs stations and encouraging anyone I know to do the same. You have sold out. Maybe you can air more re-runs of Bob Ross or another 2 useless hours of how to barbecue spare ribs. Incredible!
Dear PBS Ombudsman,
With the dramatic sea change at PBS — simultaneous removal of NOW, Moyers and World Focus (and previously Foreign Exchange) from your lineup — I can only assume PBS was recently infected by the same virus that destroyed NBC, CBS, ABC and several other ‘once worthy’ news programs.
It is a shame that the quiet majority no longer has a place to call home. I don’t know who sold out PBS, but whatever Corporate interests are behind this coup, I doubt they could ever understand anything except winner takes all.
PBS never had that mindset, and so they were a sitting duck. Call it a hostile takeover, “poison pill”(that’s corporate language — not danger speak), or simply a slow forced de-evolution into the lowest common denominator abyss; PBS has been successfully morphed from watchdog to lapdog.
Just as predators previously found their way to the top of charities like the Red Cross and the United Way; it would be naive of me to think that a kind, brave and loyal group known as PBS would not be seen as low hanging fruit ripe for the picking.
PBS looked out for the common good, now it is falling into the familiar role of milk-toast mouth-piece for powerful unseen interests.
We are left with the News Hour, which timidly produces “broadcast” and not “investigative” journalism. While I respect the genius intellect of almost all their reporters, they are not digging. They do not investigate. They just report and explain. That’s it. I know this is harsh, but they are a castrated form of news.
Everything I read about your new program, “Need to Know”, makes me “not want to watch.” It sounds like more highly intelligent reporters just doing Broadcast, and not Investigative Journalism.
What did Steven Colbert say at Bush’s Roast?
“The President makes decisions. He’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put ’em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration? You know, fiction!”
Well — I can’t simply fund Frontline, so my money will go to Democracy Now!, and anything else decent I can find.
By the way, my wife is somewhat more succinct, she wants to tell you that, a healthy democracy needs quality investigative reporting in order for people to have an informed voice. Big Corporations are already trying to suppress or take our voice away. NOW and the Journal were two programs that shared the voice of the powerless, and often the minority; and simultaneously, through investigative journalism, connected the dots to show how powerful interests exploit and ill-treat the public.
It is a sad day for Democracy and the media.
Ok… now I’m just plain depressed about both Bill Moyers and Now going off the air on PBS. So that’s it? The far right dominates the airwaves and continue to brainwash viewers into thinking that their truth twisting and disinformation spreading IS the truth?!
There are so many people in this country that can be easily swayed into believing something, just because they read it or saw it somewhere. Now there will be less voices of reason and real truth seeking on the air. I used to trust PBS. However, with this move, I will no longer send them money.
Into the hands of evil we go.
The letter I just sent to PBS:
Dear Sir,
When I heard that NOW was cancelled, I was saddened. When I heard that Bill Moyers was leaving, I despaired. Where would we get real news? Who would continue the PBS tradition of “make your blood boil” journalism? So many turn to PBS for independent journalism, for a view other than Fox and the GOP/(Tea Party) party line; for sane reporting.
Please, not Jon Meachem! For a few years now, those of us who have loved PBS, it’s felt like a dear, honest, valued friend is on life support. This latest change will feel like death. We need more reporting like that of NOW and Moyers-not the same old propaganda and revisionism from outlets like Fox and the mainstream.
Sincerely,
Laura Gharazeddine
Bill Moyers has been a rare item on media — an utterly authentic person on television, and fearlessly so. Not easy to replace. Like others have stated, I feel a surge of despair at his exit, though without a doubt, he deserves his retirement or whatever break he ends up taking. Add to that the secondary injury of NOW — David Brancaccio was a decent enough successor to host NOW, though with a bit too much NPR newscaster sheen for me. Unfortunately the show lost a good deal of its punch when it was halved to 30 minutes and lost Moyers’ tenor. But the Bill Moyers Journal was back soon enough to follow NOW and pick up the stride. So now those Friday time slots — when a sharply different perspective about this country have been conveyed, and done so in a sharply different way, thoughtful, paced, without the commodification of the mainstream media — those slots without Moyers and NOW are going to seem like a huge gap for me. All that said, I will say this as well: I have watched Jon Meachem on as many web videos as I could find — no, he’s not Bill Moyers but he has an inventive and risk-taking side and I’m willing to give him a chance, and not just a quick one, but some time to see how he develops. Even being the editor of Newsweek, I’m hoping he feels the the big shadow of Bill Moyers challenging him to dig deeper and call out what he sees.
And here is what I sent to PBS:
Noam Chomsky was right. The corporate media does control the message with a strict filter. I have no problem with Moyers retiring, but when PBS cancelled NOW and replaced it with Meacham, and as Frontline appears to be caving in to the conservative press, the process is now complete. The mainstream, corporate media has finally completed its mission of censoring all dissent on all airwaves, PBS is now corrupt like the rest. They have won, the people have lost. True journalism is now dead. I came to praise PBS, not to bury it.
Sacramento, CA
I am absolutely broken hearted to lose Bill Moyers on PBS! I hated him in the 60’s when he was Johnson’s press secretary (I hated anyone associated with Johnson!), found him incredibly bright and interesting in the 70’s and have followed him ever since then. What is the deal, anyway? I thought he was “retiring” 5 or so years ago because of W’s administration, but to leave us with this Supreme Court and no Moyers seems wrong somehow!
you guys are NUTS! Bill Moyers is as left as they come and worked for several Democrats over the years. Jon Meacham is part of the liberal media, runs liberal Newsweek magazine, called Obama a “centrist”, and is a regular at MSNBC.
In no way is Jon Meacham a conservative. It’s about time Bill Moyers retired from his propaganda soap box, I’m sick of taxpayers funding his televised op-ed column!
Poor Patriot (questionable title) think the Democratic party is liberal from his statements. Poor misinformed soul.
I was so sorry to see Bill Moyers go. Here was a man with deep love of his country and actually expressed his and our feelings that our country is headed in a disastrous direction. We see it happening, the media in general are only cheer leaders for the status quo. They are useless. PBS has moved to the right as evident in news shows. Washington Week in Review is just a joke. It used to be an informative and interesting program. Now it is just inside the beltway jokers protecting Washington, DC. They are quite pathetic on the program. I watch very little TV these days. Why would I? But I always watched Bill Moyers’ Journal and David Brancachio’s (spelling not correct) NOW. Now there is the Newshour which is becoming more and more irrelevant and of course the outstanding Frontline. The amusing thing is that as PBS misjudges and moves to the right, the right wing is so distrustful of PBS that they wouldn’t watch those programs come hell or highwater. So instead PBS is hastening its own demise by abandoning its core audience. Bad planning, guys.
Not sure what the hubbub is all about these days. The media, all of it is the same. Left-wing, socialist, free-thinking, irresponsible, slanted, skewed and bias at best. It is simple folks, news is business and as a business it must adher to the rule of supply and demand. Both the left and right get a knot in their you know what everytime, all the time about so many things. This is not a political move, it is a buisness move. The political landscape is slowling shifting once again to center (not the right as of yet) and the media is shuffling along with it as a drifting tide on the beach pushing back sand. The media has been hard-left and will continue. They are not really interested in hard hitting facts, nose to the grindstone investigation anymore, it is all about flowery, sentiment, affliliation, “why can’t we all just get along” type mentality. If you really want news, get a pencil and paper and go out and cover it, because you not going to find it in American anymore. Everyone has their opinion and until real news is once again practiced, that is only what you will have, so quit taking sides, bashing each other-because the media is sitting on the edge and watching and laughing at your pitiful, pathetic jestures and saying “who cares?”