Death by Television

[The White Tree]

Not that it is necessarily needed, but I thought this piece had a very good perspective to offer.

It is from Broadcassting and Cable.com

<http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA513102.html?display=Search+Results&text=%22fox+news%22&referral=SUPP>

From the article (1st 2 and last 2 paragraphs):

Like the rest of the nation, we watched the Terri Schiavo ordeal play itself out on the news networks last week. As we did, we supposed that for at least some of those millions watching, the questions raised weren’t only about states’ rights, or patients’ rights, or whether Schiavo is in a “persistent vegetative state”, or whether Republicans are saints and the Democrats are killers.

Surely, many must have wondered: Aren’t CNN and Fox and MSNBC and radio talk-show hosts making a freak show out of this sad, sick woman’s predicament? And if those listeners and viewers considered the contrived shouting matches unseemly, what then did they make of the news media who used Terri Schiavo as a ratings gimmick?

Robert and Mary Schindler—Terri’s parents—and Terri’s sister, Suzanne, sat in the Florida outdoors in producers’ chairs on Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes last Wednesday night, their sound bites down pat. Terri’s father stated flatly, and without contradiction, “They’re murdering her. It’s judicial homicide.” Suzanne said, emphatically, “I know my sister. She would never in a million years want to be starved to death.” Pat Robertson, up next, said, “Why, you wouldn’t treat a dog or horse the way they’re treating Terri.” A few minutes earlier, on The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly ended his program with letters from viewers who lamented: The trouble with America is that the power elite confuse legal right for moral right. And yes, there was just one lonely letter from a rational physician, who said he’d participated in “pulling the plug” cases and who admonished news professionals and their glib guests for referring to “killing” or “murdering” Terri Schiavo. On other networks, to varying degrees of tastelessness, the same show was repeated.

The plight of Terri Schiavo would be sad enough if there had been no media coverage. But as she evolved into a media plaything, her situation became sadder than it was before. If the question was ever about Terri Schiavo dying with dignity, her opportunity to do so ended last week, right on your TV set.

[SpaceBuddy008]

1. can you think outside the IdiotBox? especially of FOX

i D e U h !


KILL your Television....and


....TELL-a-Vision ..instead

[Steel City Slim]

2. Television and Terri

That article was right on target. In reality the decisions concerning Terri Schiavo were none of our business. Not anybodies business except the family. The right wing wackos and the religious fascists who tried to use it to further their political agenda as well as the media who sensationalized have earned our complete contempt.

[SpaceBuddy008]

3. coverage aided and abetted incitement to violence

shouting fire in a crowded theatre
encouraged death threats
fanning flames of new McCarthysm, red baiting
poison political discourse
preparing lynch mob mentality for when new progressive leaders emerge

any future leaders must understand Earth and environmental changes and be dedicated to wise stewardship of the natural world and place man back within and part of Nature where we belong

WE WANT CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP, WE MUST DETOXIFY IN ALL ASPECTS OF LIFE

new FCC boss=On March 18th, President Bush nominated 38-year-old Kevin J. Martin to replace Powell as head of the FCC.a former adviser to Kenneth Starr and political operative for George W. Bush in Texas,

Sadly, Martin's appointment will likely do little to curb Powell's war on "indecency" – some might call it "free expression" – and may make it even more censorious. As a commissioner, Martin frequently criticized some of Powell's fining decisions as being too lenient, while calling for fines to be levied "per utterance," not per incident. As a New York Times report noted, "Mr. Martin has taken the most aggressive approach in indecency cases, dissenting from a series of opinions in which the agency either found no violation or did not issue what he believed was a significant enough punishment. For those votes, he was strongly endorsed by some conservative organizations."

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21582/