What the AP did to Dean this morning is not to be forgotten.

[madfloridian]

This is a Jacksonville station. At this time the WI polls had barely
opened. Several got screen shots, and this has been blasted around the
universe today. The media has been telling lies all day, until it is too
late for them to be anything but the truth. I won't go on about the rest
of them, as this one is sufficient.

The Associated Press was sending this out this morning, until we caught it
and got it stopped. Just thought you might be interested if you have
doubts that the media is powerful..
http://www.punxfordean.org/issues.html

My note: A thread on this was posted earlier in the day. I had a lot of people ask me for a screen shot. Here it is. It is unbelievable. And the ones I talked to there did not seem to see anything wrong with it....a mistake they said. What a shame.

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. I agree that the media is after Dean...

But I'm not sure that screenshot swayed many voters.

[JackRiddler]

5. quite irrelevant

The screenshot exposes them. Certainly to all who fought for Dean. As a crime, it seems minor. As a sign, it says everything. Never forget this.

[emanymton]

6. Have You Missed The Point???

The people haven't even voted and the media are stating a candidate lost. So why bother voting?

So much for objective media.

Credibility problems? We don't need no stinkin' credibility.




Bush Lied, People Died, Media Cheered

[NV1962]

2. You bet

Unfortunately, it being sent out by AP implies that it's *very* likely that other stations / media have committed the same or a similar grave injustice.

This is something that deserves wider publication; it's a shame that flunkies, bozos and nitwits get to make such far-reaching editorial decisions, only because they're cheaper than their better qualified colleagues (and I feel very generous today, that I use that term to include them!)

[incapsulated]

3. The AP also screwed Clark more times than I can count

They are moonie mofo's. I don't know what their agenda is, but I don't like it.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. UPI is owned by the Moonies. AP is not. eom

[incapsulated]

11. Really?

Then I was totally confused. :crazy:

Not the first time. They're still mofo's.

[DemBones DemBones]

17. AP may be mofos, but they're not Moonie mofos.

An important distinction.

And I really think they write a lot of copy in advance, as I said in my post below, having several different stories ready to cover all the likely outcomes of an election.

If "Dean Makes Come Back" had been the story sent out this morning, people would have a different view of this mistake. It's possible someone at AP did this on purpose, but I doubt that can be proved.

I think people should complain to AP if they want to, but there are more important media injustices to complain about.

[JackRiddler]

4. the key here is not to forget

the dean campaign will go on past the dean candidacy.

- No to PATRIOT Act
- No to preventive war
- MEDIA & CAMPAIGN REFORM
- Truth disclosure issues: 9/11, covert politics, CIA, etc.

[RummyTheDummy]

7. Im not sure anyone here knows how the AP works or what it is.

NT

[revcarol]

8. From the threads this AM, I thought it was documented that it

occurred in at least FOUR places. LA was one, can't remember the others.

ALL CANDIDATES and CANDIDATES' SUPPORTERS NEED TO ATTACK THIS. We've GOT to preserve our electoral process!!

Someone please get contact #'s for the AP and ALL the newspapers and websites that posted this. Tomorrow we will deluge them with our ANGER.

From a Kucinich supporter.

[DemBones DemBones]

9. Could this be routine? All networks, news services,

etc., have file copies of obituaries of many famous people on hand so that they can do a quick update and get the news out, with photos, bio, etc., whenever someone important dies.

The media has ignored my candidate, Dennis Kucinich, and treated him rudely, but I think this is a mistake, not a deliberate attack. Remember Reagan's obit getting out by accident?

Surely they must prepare political stories ahead, wanting to be ready with the story as soon as the election results are known. Perhaps it's routine to have a "Smith Loses, As Polls Predicted He Would" and a "Smith Comes from Behind, Gets More Votes than Expected" story already written, to be edited slightly when the polls close.

I realize you're saying only a "Dean Loses" story was revealed this morning. I'm saying they might have a "Dean Comes from Behind" story on file, too, plus "Kerry Wins Again" and "Edwards Wins Wisconsin in Surprise Upset Over Kerry," etc.

[revcarol]

13. Before the polls were open ONE HOUR, they said Dean had lost

in Wisconsin.

Nice way to discourage people from voting. That's what upsets me. VOTES should be the only thing determining the outcome of an election, not the media printing false stories before most people had a chance to vote.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. It's not in the same league with

distributing flyers "announcing" that the election has been rescheduled for a different date, as has happened before.

If people were going to vote in Wisconsin today and saw that story, they should have asked themselves WTF? and called a local newspaper or television news desk about it. Did anyone in Wisconsin complain about it today?

Complaining about it is fine, but I think it would be more effective to complain about media misrepresentations of a candidate's record or statements. I think this is just a mistake.

[Iverson]

26. You are very generous.

Generally, it's a good idea not to attribute to malice what could be explained by stupidity.

In the case of the news media, we must wonder, since they usually aren't stupid. They not only present the news in a certain way but also are the gatekeepers of what gets to be reported as news at all.

Here's what I immediately take into account when I learn of a story like this one.
- the stunning concentration of media ownership over the last generation;
- recent examples of the media's political behavior;
- the way in which they covered, or didn't cover, electoral fraud in 2000;
- the marginalizing of candidates in this election cycle, through lack of coverage and dismissive coverage of various sorts.

One would think that after 2000, the news media would be sensitized to basic issues of democracy, such as voting rights. Perhaps they are, but not in such ways that it would actually influence their behavior (see: NYT cheering the coup in Venezuela).

Given that this story is national in scope, it has the greatest domestic audience. With more eyes upon them, an honest mistake is less likely to occur. However, the political agenda will always remain intact. That is why I cannot be as generous as you. I doubt that they work on multiple stories for various possible outcomes for a primary. If they had the manpower and the diligence to do that, then surely they'd have the staff to prevent errors of fact from being distributed nationally.

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. For the collectors

.
.
.

A screenshot of the article in question



This should be shared !

[Snazzy]

20. Why are you saying AP?

CBS station and I don't see the AP credit after the dateline, where it always is.

It says Knight Ridder/Tribune -- but that could be just the photo.

[ClintonTyree]

14. From the beginning...............

the corporate news whores decided that Dean was a far too dangerous person to their little Monopoly game. They were going to get him, and that was all there was to it. It worked. It worked against Dean mostly, but to a lesser extent to Clark and Kucinich as well.
There is no telling what the whores have up their collective sleeves fro Kerry. They may not bother him at all considering he seems to be in league with the corporate conglomerates.
Democracy has died in this country. Those who's charge it is to report the news have become the news. They've become the king makers, the heart breakers.
It's almost certain that Kerry is now going to be our candidate. Unless he tells me that he'll do something to break up the corporate monopoly of news organizations, I'll have a difficult time supporting and voting for him.
He betrayed us all with his tacit approval of attacks against Dean and the others. I feel betrayed by him, and that will be difficult to put aside at election time.

[zoeyfong]

16. I am in complete agreement.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

27. R.I.P. Democracy.

[zoeyfong]

15. CBS News ripped Dean six ways to sunday tonight on the evening news.

Did anybody see that? Jim Axelrod did a lengthy piece that amounted to "Ha Ha, what a loser." Rush Limbaugh couldn't have done it better. It is becoming more and more evident how much power the media has over our government, vis-a-vis controlling the perceptions of the ignorant masses. I think that at this point it is more important to get control of the media than to win the election. It's no accident that freedom of the press is in the very first amendment to the constitution.

[AnnitaR]

18. What the media did

to Clark this ENTIRE campaign is not to be forgotten!

At least your guy had a really long honeymoon with the media. They couldn't get enough of him. He was everywhere. They treated my guy for the most part like he didn't even exist.

[texasmom]

22. Yes, and Clark was pronounced to have lost

NH and other states *before* or in the morning of the voting.

It's outrageous, and along with verified voting, it's definitely one of those issues we have to get busy working to change.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

21. Am I the only one who finds it ironic

that Dean is looking at his watch in the picture?

[rhite5]

24. Save this screenshot for the history books.

Mistake? I seriously doubt it. But it remains to be seen.

It may become one of the proofs that this election will be nothing but a farce and our democracy has vanished completely.

[CWebster]

23. The disdain for Dean...

It is like an echo chamber.

[RetroLounge]

25. Must Follow Media Script

[Tinoire]

28. See this thread. Explains a LOT

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=354971

[Ysabel]

29. in 1979...

There was an encyclopedia company (I forget which one - one of the big name ones) that published a book listing all the presidents - they published it in >> July 1979 << several months before the election - it was on the shelves in December and my MIL got one for Christmas. They had Reagan in there as the most recent president...

You think that perhaps they also made other copies just in case it turned out to be somebody else...?

I doubt it...