ABC News Pulls Reporter off Kucinich Campaign (MUST READ!)

Regardless of which candidate you support, the actions by ABC News is an outrage and a blatant attempt to control the election and mislead the public.

ABC News Pulls Reporter off Kucinich Campaign
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2003

The day after Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich took ABC debate moderator Ted Koppel to task for avoiding questions that would be useful to voters in favor of questions about endorsements, money, and polls, ABC pulled its fulltime "embedded" reporter from the Kucinich campaign, a reporter who had been given no warning that such a move was coming and who had discussed at length yesterday with the Kucinich campaign staff her plans and her needs for the coming months.

ABC has reportedly also pulled its reporters from covering the presidential campaigns of Rev. Al Sharpton and Ambassador Carol Mosley-Braun.

This appears to be another instance of what Kucinich criticized at the debate, namely the media trying to pick candidates, rather than letting the voters do so. In a democracy, it should be voters and not pundits or TV networks who narrow the field of candidates.

This move, before any state's caucus or primary, appears based on a belief that viable candidates can be predicted 11 months prior to an election, a belief that flies in the face of the historical record. Time and again candidates dismissed as "fringe" have wound up either with the nomination or with a significant impact on the convention and in the primaries.

This action by ABC, as well as Koppel's comments during the debate, can only serve to disempower Americans, communicating to them that someone other than they is deciding elections and that their votes don't mean much.

This action also seems to conflict with the network's interest in boosting ratings and Koppel's expressed interest in making the debate exciting, given that Kucinich received the loudest applause of the evening.

ABC presumably has no vested interest in discouraging voting or in lowering its ratings. It may, however, have an interest in whether Koppel's prediction of the viability of various candidacies proves true.

For more information: http://www.kucinich.us

For Rep. Kucinich's Schedule: http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm.

http://www.kucinich.us/pressreleases/pr_121003.php

By removing CMB and AS, they covered themselves.

And here I was beginning to think ABC was one of the better networks. Business as usual.

I'm afraid...nothing they do surprises me. They should be indictable right along with the bushcrones.

I happen to question the timing of removing ABC's embeded reporter covering Dennis Kucinich's campaign. This happened immediately after the debates when Koppel was criticized openly for questions that had little to do with politics and more than enough to do personalities and gossip.

This is simply a case of what you want to hear instead of what we need to know. Keep this up and more and more people will turn to the internet instead of ABC for their news.

The internet and cable are already the places to go for news. I'm sure that abc is just responding to the polls on who they cover full time. Does anyone here really think that Dennis has a chance?

We are the DemocraticUnderground afterall. If they start here and now not covering candidates, where do you see the media in 2 months, 6 months, and right up to the next 'selection' ?

24 hours a day *moron-tv spots is what you will see by then, as if weren't the status quo on the boob enough already.

Sure the internet and umm, cable (don't have it, don't want it due to the hype since last year) are a viable source. But many, many people don' t depend on the internet for news. They get the pablum that's spooned to them, and look forward to the next spoonful.

Dennis has a chance. So does anyone else (all hands raised here) that is running against the current farce in office.
How would you feel if YOUR candidate faced the same predicament with ABC?

dp

If you really want to know which came first "the poll or the pundent"
http://www.politicsus.com/presidential%20press%20releases/Kucinich/102903.htm

~~~
Here's a poll that will not likely be seen paraded about on the TV.
http://pages.alexa.com/features/candidates.html

It ranks internet traffic. Kucinich is on a steady move to the front of the pack the others traffic shows no change in interest.

How about these polls.
http://www.potuspoll.com/120203pr.htm

Dennis Kucinich WINS December 2 POTUS Poll
Dennis Kucinich WINS November POTUS Poll
Dennis Kucinich Wins October POTUS Poll

Dennis Kucinich has won BOTH the
Democrats.com Fantasy and Reality Poll
6 weeks in a row.

So yes, I really think Dennis does have a .. "chance in hell".

*

to mobilize and bombard ABC & Koppel with emails and phone calls and let them know that we won't stand for anymore of the media's mind games. I for one am sick to death of the manipulation of the public by our cheesy American media. I will gladly boycott ABC considering I don't watch their crappy programs anyway. Maybe we could start something like DU had for its fundraising drive but instead of contributions putting the punch to Monkeyboy we could use emails and phone calls to document our effectivness against this media manipulation. Just a thought.

And by the way I thought Kucinich was magnificent last night. I would gladly give a limb to see this country ready for a candidate like Dennis.

Did anyone happen to see (on C-span) a "Witch House" briefing with the "media" today? While some of the journalists were doing their thing with unsettling question for the WH spokesperson, one fellow (journalist) almost came out of his jacket with vitriol over "how Kucinich treated Koppel..."

O M G!!!!! It's war folks!

I think the country IS ready, but The People are apparently afraid to hope for the best or maybe we have a collective low self esteme problem....
If you'd give a limb to see that day maybe you could start with less investment and just give Kucinich your vote.

about the limb but I swear I would. My daughter is expecting my first grandchild next year and I want to see a good future out there for not just my grandchild but for everyone. But I disagree with you in that I don't think people are ready. Our society thrives on conflict and violence just look at movies, tv, and even video games. What is the general attitude about Kucinich in the media and by some in the public. That he is a kook because he wants a department of peace. What does that say about our society that we laugh at someone who proposes a department of peace but have no problem with our government spending billions on a department of war (defense) while our own infrastructure is crumbling.

Who is ABC to decide ... they have an obligation to cover every candidate equally.

They get to pick who the most "viable" candidates are? Do we get a voice in anything anymore?

Seriously, the media is, after all, all about generating revenue. Is it possible that they've made the decision (right or wrong) that the candidates polling in the low single digits don't rate a full-time correspondant? Personally, I'd love to see them cover EVERY campaign (yes, even Nader, should he decide to run) in depth, but isn't it posible that this is an economic decision rather than some great slight to the left?

as long as you are talking about an info-mercial.

but what about the free press?

lemme see, i have a copy of the Declaration..., and the Constitution here somewhere...pre-2000 copy...i bet it's in there.

dp

I said this in another thread that's over 100 posts deep, but ABC has the money and don't let them fool you into thinking that they don't. How do I know? Just look at the highest-rated program for the evening of 12/10: The wedding of Ryan and Trista ("The Bachelorette").

Folks, ABC spent nearly $4 million on the wedding of reality TV-created celebrities. Now, granted, that money probably came out of the entertainment division, but, come on, if ABC was serious about covering campaign 2004, surely some exec could authorize the transfer of funds to the news division so it can do its duty to inform viewers.

Don't believe that ABC can't cover the candidates because of expenses. The money's there; ABC News just chooses not to do its job. We're watching the puppet strings jingle and jangle before our very eyes.

Does anyone think there is a chance the other campaigns can be convinced to release statements condemning this? After all, what's stopping them from dropping coverage of the eventual democratic nominee, when that happens?

The three who lost the embedded reporters are the same three that Koppel asked "will you drop out of the race"?

Just a coincidence, I guess.

Sign the petition everyone!

ABC Orders Some Candidates Off the Stage

>This frustration came out at the debate, as Koppel quizzed all three non-"serious" candidates: "You don't have any money, at least not much. Rev. Sharpton has almost none. You don't have very much, Ambassador Braun. The question is, will there come a point when polls, money and then ultimately the actual votes that will take place...will there come a point when we can expect one or more of the three of you to drop out? Or are you in this as sort of a vanity candidacy?"

Kucinich responded with a dig at the industry that Koppel works for: "I want the American people to see where the media takes politics in this country. To start with endorsements, to start talking about endorsements. Now we're talking about polls. And then we're talking about money. Well, you know, when you do that, you don't have to talk about what's important to the American people." <

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1213-07.htm