Dear Donna: A Letter to the AP
Dear Donna,
While local AP bureaus have done an excellent job in many states covering the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, we have noticed what can only be described as a ‘lights out’ policy from AP’s Washington, DC national political desk.
After waiting six months for a national AP news story, we get a third party story that is really about Barr ("Bailout angst provides a push for Libertarian Barr.")
You couldn’t even dedicate resources inside AP to research our campaign and write up the story, though given the present state of repair, Mr Runyan was probably less biased than what you would have offered from in house.
We are running third place, polling 100% higher than Barr according to Ipsos, have been warning on the financial crisis for two decades, and have a thoughtful alternative proposal to the bailout that would work for Americans. Nader is also polling 4-8 per cent in six swing states and has raised almost $4 million dollars—about four times as much as Barr.
And for that, we get a squib marginalized by a headline.
The AP’s treatment of this campaign to date will go down in history as a blight on your professionalism—allowing personal animosity to black out your role of informing people of the important things that are happening. Your sports writers did a considerably better job in Beijing than your politics desk is doing this election in Washington, DC. There were ample reports about Americans who won bronze medals, coming in third place, exactly where Nader is sitting right now. To add insult to injury, the Olympics is only 2.5 weeks, and we have been in this contest for over six months. When did it become the role of the press to only write about winning candidates, winning corporations, and winning sports teams, completely blacking out everything else no matter how thoughtful, interesting, or relevant to the discourse and development of the nation?
It is simply unbelievable that you have done nothing on Nader’s bailout plan.
As the most relied upon news organization for print media in the world, one would expect a shred of professionalism for the third-highest ranked Presidential candidate.
Every day, we hear from people that say they did not even know Nader was running. When he pulls in more than a million votes on November 4th, and many more people see his name on the ballot for the first time in print (as his name will be before roughly twice as many voters this time), they will wonder what in the heck the news media was doing for them to have not yet heard he was running. One national story all campaign does not a newswire make.
I hope you take the opportunity to return to your proud traditions which are quickly turning into receding laurels.
As the government continues to do a new multi-billion dollar bailout each week, the least you could do is a story on Nader’s alternative plan to the bailouts. See below a release detailing it.
http://www.votenader.org/media/2008/09/16/meltdown/
Not a happy camper,
Toby Heaps
National Media Coordinator
202 471 5833
Feel free to reach out to Donna, and ask why she hasn’t done one national story on us since launch, a story on the bailout, and Nader’s alternative plan, dcassata@ap.org, 202-641-9421
If Donna is not responsive, try the Washington Bureau chief, Ron Fournier, rfournier@ap.org, 202-641-9402
