How big media shortchange the public

[Donna Halper]

I am not convinced it's a matter of right wing media or left wing 
media.  Frankly, I think there is news on both sides that is overlooked or 
under-reported, and as a citizen, I just wanna be informed.  I want both 
sides of the issues.  Consider this:  when I was in college, back in the 
Viet Nam era, I started off like Kerry (and don't read anything into this-- 
this isn't about politics; it's about historical fact) and supported the 
war.  But also like Kerry, I became very disillusioned-- not for the 
reasons he did, but because friends of mine were dying and yet the 
government (which back then was run by President Johnson, a Democrat) was 
lying to us about it--  they said we were winning, but that wasn't true, as 
Walter Cronkite (also originally for it, but later against it) found out 
first-hand.  I wanted the media to tell the truth instead of just repeating 
what the people in power said.  It wasn't about political parties-- it was 
about why were so many people dying if we were winning the war?  These 
days, people on both sides of the political aisle wanna know what's really 
going on in Iraq-- and why we are there at all is still a bone of 
contention.  Fox cheerleads too much-- they oughta do more investigative 
reporting, and this president and his administration is as secretive as 
Nixon and Johnson were.  Meanwhile, CNN tries so hard not to offend that it 
doesn't clarify the issues much at all.  And who knows what NPR is up to 
lately?  Bottom line-- it ain't about evil Republicans or nasty Democrats-- 
that's an oversimplification.  It's about being informed and not being fed 
a bunch of  partisan spin that hides the real issues.