Complaint to CNN

[CajunBlazer]

I just filed this complaint on CNN's feedback page:

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/

I am sick and tired of the tactics used by Donald Trump's surrogates when they participate on your program and the apparent inability of your hosts to control them.

For instance I just saw for what seems like the hundredth time a Clinton surrogate sat quietly while the Trump representative answered questions from you host. However, when your host turned her attention to the Clinton representative and started asking him questions, the Trump surrogate interrupted him continuously to the point he could not make his points. Your host did nothing to prevent these interruptions. As I pointed out, this is not a one time occurrence - it happens all of the time. The Trump campaign must be schooling their people on this technique.

In addition, it is amazing the number of unfair exaggerations, distortions, and often flat out lies Trump surrogates engage in nearly every interview. Your hosts have lately been doing a better job of calling them out, but not nearly enough. When a lie is not challenged immediately, it becomes a truth in the minds of viewers who haven't been paying enough attention to the race.

Then there is the "gish gallop" which Trump campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, uses without reproach by your hosts. If you are unfamiliar to the term you can look it up here:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gish%20Gallop )
When Kellyanne is asked to defend something that Trump did or said, she immediately launches instead into a never ending list of reasons why Clinton should not be President and not once answers the original question. When she starts one her verbal assaults, your host should immediately and firmly interrupt and say something like, "You are purposefully avoiding my question - please answer my question about Donald Trump without attacking his opponent." If Kellyanne continues in the same vein, your hosts should interrupt again saying something like, "Are you incapable of defending Trump on this point?"

Look, I know that surrogates on both sides are often guilty of using these kinds of tactics and I don't mind if your host are equally assertive with Clinton surrogates when appropriate. However, you need to raise the level of political discourse in all of these conversations because people are tiring of the current situation and you are losing viewers. It is really getting old.

We need to call out the Cable News channels - that is the only way we are going get fair coverage. Please join me in taking the media to task when necessary.

Please post a reply if you have also complained.

[MoonRiver]

1. Thank you! I avoid CNN now, because of the Rump bias.

[CajunBlazer]

4. I watch CNN all of the time and I see absolutely no evidence....

of a Trump bias. In fact, I strongly suspect that most if not all CNN host secretly hate Trump's guts though they are professional enough not to show it.

[MoonRiver]

36. A CNN apologist, how special

[CajunBlazer]

38. First you make a claim that you chose not to substantiate...

....and they you start calling names which I don't deserve. I simply wrote what I believe be the truth based on many, many hours of watching the CNN during this election season. And you think you have claimed the higher ground here? That's amazing!

[tonyt53]

2. Last night Cooper stopped such a "talking over" by a Trump supporter.

He reminded them that HE was the one that gave each of them a time for response. He also on-air fact-checked a Trump supporter.

[CajunBlazer]

6. They are definately doing better on CNN

Especially since the Commander in Chief forum debacle which brought attention to the media letting Trump and his surrogates getting away with outrageous behavior.

However, we need to keep the pressure up.

[calimary]

19. YES. We DO. We need to keep the pressure up.

It was kinda hard to avoid or pretend it didn't exist - when Matt "Lauering the Bar" Lauer's complete botch job during the Commander-in-Chief forum was roundly skewered - all over print media. I lost count of how many times he was utterly barbecued for his lousy work that night. You couldn't get around it. You couldn't spin it. You couldn't pretend everything was okay. He was humiliated from one end of the industry to the other.

That kinda gets attention. Further, I've noticed that since Joy Reid turned up the heat on "Babbling Boris" Epshteyn and other Trump surrogates for downright RUDENESS on the air, I have started noticing other anchorpeople on MSNBC and CNN doing it, too. I don't know why - except for viewer reaction. I know here Joy Reid has been recognized and loudly celebrated. If it's happening here, it's likely happening elsewhere on the net (where I've read many of the highly-critical op/eds). And that, too, has not been easy to avoid. Especially considering how people gossip. Especially with somebody like Matt Lauer, whose behavior over the years leaves him vulnerable to schadenfreude from his peers who probably love reading all the take-downs of Mr. High 'n' Mighty "Today Show" Guy.

So it may have been a critical mass point, a tipping point. A combination of things that have happened that jolted the lazy negligent media - at least a little bit. Not a lot, as we still see. But a LITTLE.

[Divine Discontent]

43. hey, calimary

I praised your hard work in a thread a DUer made about putting together a group that would ask for the news folks being accountable in reporting breaking news stories, and would post on social media/email/call them. And someone had said all the old phone numbers and emails were on the old DU so someone would have to find them if she wanted them in case some were still useful. Well, I keep active there from time to time, and searched out in the Activism forum and found your threads where you posted for Skinner hundreds of email addresses and phone numbers for the DU quick response group.

It's people like you who make changes happen, and I commend you, because that had to take a lot of effort back a decade or so ago. I hope you're doing well, and let's hope our efforts keep Trump out of the White House!

[calimary]

46. Oh gosh...

Here I have to say both "thank you" and "shit, I'm SO SORRY!!!"

Thank you, first of all, Divine Discontent! That's really a wonderful comment! I just wanted one main place on here where people could go to find information and resource material and contact info and background info - that I'd collected from hanging out here and reading what other people here had written.

My fault, though - in not keeping it up meticulously, as I should have. I'm afraid I bit off WAY more than I could chew because I didn't have the time to stay on it and keep it maintained. I was only able to update it in a large, overall way, once. Kids and aging parents and life demands and all. You know how that is...

So I kinda feel obliged to apologize to everybody here. I did not realize how big a job it would be, or how much DAILY attention it would require to be a real service to people here. It's a HUGE job and I wasn't up to it as much as it required. And shit - part of it is everybody else here, too. ALL the great data. ALL the great links people post. ALL the great advice and strategy and background info and details on people involved. That's hard to keep up with, too! But it's because of all the great work others here do. It's an embarrassment of riches, as the saying goes. I'm just glad to be able to help a little.

I was gonna make another OP of the Twitter storm (is that what it's called?) that I undertook yesterday to spread this around:

http://www.attn.com/stories/10483/chart-compares-presidential-candidates-honesty

But I didn't because the OP would have been long and tedious and obnoxious, probably...

[Divine Discontent]

47. Well, first, I love that Link's graphic you want to share

It's rather fitting, that the GOPers I find the least repulsive are down there with Hillary and Obama.

As for the work to keep up contacts. How I ever understand. After 12 yrs as my brothers caregiver as I wrote in my GoFundMe thread, I am so exhausted mentally that trying to write OPs like I used to get a few hundred recs for the effort of what I did I was referencing in the post, or the info I was providing seems impossible today! I can barely put sentences together without having to correct myself. We all could use a vacation, huh? 😂

Anyhow, the work you did is appreciated and used by someone. I hope you can get your next OP completed.

✊👍

[calimary]

48. Done! Our great Nance Greggs wrote a fabulous column

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512417910

She asked me to make an OP of my comment supporting her OP's premise. It has a bunch of links in it that cover EXAMPLES of actual living breathing Trump Deplorables. And they are legion. And I don't know why the press doesn't bring this up. Well, actually, I do. They're hellbent on never having to say "Hillary is right."

So here it is:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512419496

[Divine Discontent]

51. excellent! TY n/t

[BSdetect]

3. Great points

And I'd like to add that they repeatedly spin the lie that people do not trust HRC. That is a self fulfilling prophesy. Just heard that yet again on MSNBC.

Has anyone kept a toll of this? How many times have we heard this gibberish repeated as if it was fact?

[calimary]

21. Welcome to DU, BSdetect.

Has anyone kept a toll of this? I doubt anybody can count that high.

As recently as yesterday I was watching Wolf Blitzer "handle" a Trump surrogate who blathered on about how the Clinton Foundation did this and the Clinton Foundation did that - LONG after that AP hatchet-job-turned-botch-job was roundly criticized and fact-checked and found extremely lacking. I used to work at the AP. To say I'm disgusted and/or appalled and/or outraged - is quite the understatement.

[oasis]

5. I've noticed Trump's bulldog, Boris Epstyn intimidating media hosts

and Hillary spokespersons these past weeks.

Good on you for calling out CNN.

[still_one]

7. Good job. I wrote to CNN about a week complaining why Hillary and Trump are not covered with the

same standards, and why Trump is held to such a low standard, when if the Clinton camp did anything the Trump campaign did, they would be in an uproar 24/7

[Democat]

8. Why do Democrats do this "a Clinton surrogate sat quietly"?

Democrats should be punching right back at those Trump liars. Democratic talking heads never seem to want to fight as hard as Republicans.

[CajunBlazer]

23. Because that is the way you are supposed to conduct yourself

In the Clinton surrogate's defense, the host started asking the Trump surrogate questions first; the Hillary supporter didn't interrupt. The hosts was meanwhile pushing back on Trump's guy's lies and misstatements. There was no need for Clinton guy to interrupt and it would have been impolite for him to do so.

Of course the Trump surrogate (they are all nasty people) didn't afford the Clinton guy the same respect, interrupting him constantly.

It happens all of the time. I believe that they think that they have to use these nasty tactics because that is the only way they can begin to defend someone a off the wall as Trump.

[gopiscrap]

9. I have complained

[ananda]

10. Good letter but ...

... you're telling them you're a watcher.

The best tactic is to boycott, since they rely on ratings.

[calimary]

24. NOPE! The best tactic is to pile on 'em.

If you're not there, nobody's gonna know you're not watching. I make sure they know I'm watching and taking notes - AND complaining.

Personally, I've taken up tweeting. But a good thing to do - if you tweet a critique, try to fit in at least one other twitter handle - of somebody else, either at the same network or another network.

THE POINT HERE: make sure other eyes see this, too. You know people are gonna read the twitter pages, but if you're shamed in front of another peer in the industry, directly, that can leave a mark. If another of your peers knows you're being called out, it makes them aware of it, and probably also conscious of what THEY'RE doing - because nobody wants that kind of "recognition."

AND ON THE FLIP SIDE: Whenever I've tweeted something complimentary to Joy Reid, which I've done a lot because of her refusal to let these blabbermouths get away with it, I've added the twitter handles of one or two other TV "journalists" so THEY see what she did that was good. It tells them people are watching and keeping track. It tells them that they need to shape up a little. That could be why a few more of them are doing the same thing now - on CNN and MSNBC both. Suddenly, it seems to be "a thing."

Like what I just sent to Hallie Jackson on MSNB when one of her guests, a woman doctor, said there was a double standard when it comes to covering Hillary Clinton. So I sent the following tweet (taking from all her Twitter handles listed under her name and photo over on the left side of her Twitter page:

@HallieJackson YES there's a #DoubleStandard in covering @HillaryClinton @NBCNightlyNews @TODAYshow @MSNBC @Roadwarriors YES. YES. YES. Yes.

There IS an argument to be made for turning 'em off. But those boycotts usually work only when a big stink is made about them. When there are movements that take it up. But look how long it's taken for the organized "Flush Rush" efforts to have any effect against Rush Limbaugh. YEARS! I remember getting "Flush Rush" newsletters WHILE I was still working at the AP. When my kids were wee babes. My daughter now in her mid-20s just got married, okay? That's how long it's taken, and he's not even off the air completely as many of us would prefer. But his numbers are down, his big flashy stations have dropped him and, here in L.A. for example, he got moved off the big AM clear channel to an itty-bitty bottom-of-the-ratings-barrel station with no signal strength and a lousy transmitter site. And the ratings are still at the bottom of the list here in L.A. His exposure is almost ZERO here now.

BTW - "clear channel" in this case is not the company, but the kind of radio classification - a clear channel station doesn't have other stations in adjacent counties or states on the same frequency, so they can broadcast very long distances without their signal being crowded or blocked. KFI, for example, can be heard over half the western US and well into Mexico. The idea originally, decades ago, was to designate certain AM stations as emergency broadcast stations. This was long before the rise of FM radio. In the event of a national emergency and you needed information, and other stations would be going off the air, the clear channel station would stay on, reaching a vast audience beyond just its home turf, providing that info and being very easy to find on the radio dial.

[padfun]

45. Back in the 60's and 70's

we could pick up KOMA Oklahoma City from the Arizona Deserts. There were a few others but that one was the farthest and clearest. (El Paso had one too but not quite as strong even though it was much closer)

[CajunBlazer]

29. Why should they pay attention to someone boycotting them

.....how in the heck can someone boycotting them know enough about what is happening on their programs to complain.

How is a boycott going to get the word to them on what they are doing wrong. Would you have them wait until the next rating come out and then have them try to figure why they are losing viewers? They could easily come to the wrong conclusion of why they are not reaching as people as they used to.

Bottom line, I don't think boycotting is the solution to the problem because we would have to boycott the entire injury.

[Coolest Ranger]

11. I complain

by not watching their network. Until they start standing up to the Trump people and conservatives in general I won't watch.

[Yallow]

12. Anderson Did A Pretty Good Job Last Night But The Lies Are Just Overwhelming

It is truly sickening.

We want information, not to be assaulted with an endless stream of lies.

[PatSeg]

13. They all need to take lessons

from Joy Reid. She stops the surrogates immediately and explains that she knows what they are doing, then she asks them to answer the question. This is what has made her so popular the past few weeks. Who wants to turn on TV and hear some mechanical Talking Points Dolls spew scripted rhetoric and talk over other people?

[SunSeeker]

28. ^^^THIS^^^

[calimary]

14. I have been all over CNN and MSNBC both, using Twitter.

Smacked "Babbling Boris" Epshteyn and other surrogates for their motormouthing and rudeness, too. But him in particular. He's AWFUL!!!

Paul Begala once said that 100 paper letters could change the course of a newsroom. Anybody write anything and send it in via the US Postal Service?

[rivegauche]

15. Excellent letter!! I hope you get a reply. nt

[rtracey]

16. Not watching

I have stopped watching all of news on cable. I refuse to watch CNN, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS. I will NOT watch any news programs until after the election. Once Hillary is at the "President Elect" podium talking about her specific plans, I am not watching.... the main reason is I cannot STAND TO HEAR TRUMPS VOICE.

[northoftheborder]

25. Exactly. I could have written your post. I don't even watch PBS Newshour or C-Span.

I can get all the news I can stand online. It's great to get caught up on all my recorded shows from PBS and movies I've missed.

[erronis]

40. Agree, but stronger than that. No TV, no radio

I'm almost 70 and have been fervently interested in national and international news for most of my life.

I'm mainly interested in science and other subjects that truly affect our lives - now and way into the future.

When I am forced to follow "newsworthy" stories via a linear medium such as radio or tv I find myself hitting the OFF button rather than waiting for the "horse race" talk, the "personalities on parade", or the fund-raisers. I've given plenty to various supposedly non-profit media ventures and realize that they are all interested in making big bucks, just like the commercial outlets.

So I rely on the internet for now. I can choose the aggregating web sites, the news feeds, the email to receive. If I'm interested I can immediately delve into the content or save for later. If the source becomes a pain it can be easily blocked. Not so the radio/tv media.

I will argue that linear streaming content such as T.V. channels or radio stations are going to be dinosaurs, very soon. And the advertising/sponsorship/$$$ model will die.

[steventh]

17. Well said!

You inspired me to also send feedback to CNN:

"Congratulations to Alisyn Camerota for asking Kellyanne Conway to produce evidence of Trump's being audited by the IRS. However, the interview went downhill from there. The interviewer allowed Conway to answer every question about Trump with an attack on Hillary Clinton. It happens all too often. It's way past time for CNN interviewers to take control of the interviews and stop allowing Trump and surrogates to evade questions by deflecting."

[LisaM]

22. I think that's a good way to put it.

If you point out that the hosts are losing control of the interview, it might challenge them to take it back. I don't like how some of the CNN hosts (Chris Cuomo) try to upstage their guests and answer the questions for them, but I think at the very least they can keep their guests on track to answer the questions posed to them.

[CajunBlazer]

39. Brovo

[calimary]

31. Welcome to DU steventh!

GREAT feedback you sent! You named the anchor, and the interview subject, and gave details. If any idiots over there don't get it, they can go get the video of Camerota's show and see for themselves. This is a no-brainer, but then again, what we're dealing with among what passes for broadcast "journalism" these days is almost nonstop no-brain behavior.

You just inspired me to tweet her ( @AlisynCamerota ) - actually to reply to one of her retweets:

Alisyn Camerota Retweeted
Lawrence O'Donnell ?@Lawrence 13h13 hours ago
2015: Lawrence O'Donnell tears into TV media for not calling Donald Trump a liar http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lawrence-odonnell-donald-trump_us_5655d84ee4b072e9d1c15249 … # via @HuffPostMedia

My tweet:
@Lawrence @AlisynCamerota @HuffPostMedia He's RIGHT! What now passes for TV "journalism" should be reclassified as Criminal Negligence.

All I did was click on "reply." But look! Even simply clicking on the little "reply" arrow gave me TWO OTHER twitter handles that relayed my reply! To Lawrence O'Donnell AND the Huffington Post. So that means Lawrence O'Donnell AND the Huffington Post got my tweet, too, not only Alisyn Camerota.

I recall reading an article about this kind of duplication. A woman wrote into the NYTimes to complain about something they reported erroneously. But she didn't just write to them. She CC'd a whole bunch of people - within the NYTimes and its corporate structure, AND THE WASHINGTON POST!!! There's nothing like having your competition personally invited to watch you marched out to the woodshed. Sure enough, the Times quickly printed a correction.

Bring other eyeballs into it. So the offender KNOWS other people are seeing this. Kinda hard to ignore your message when you do that.

[patsimp]

18. thank you

[Ohioblue22]

20. I registered my complaint by turning them off and not going back

[C Moon]

26. This is why Trump doesn't want a moderator at the debates.

He wants to use this tactic.

[Ernest Partridge]

27. A Joy to Watch.

For a sterling example of how to counter a "gish gallop" (e.g., "Oh yeah, what about Bengazi?!) just watch Joy Reed on MSNBC. She's the Grand Champion.

Joy insists that the Trumpster answer the question, repeats the demand, and repeats. After several failures, she says something like "clearly you don't want to answer my question," or still better, "I'll take that as a 'no'" (or a 'yes,' as the case may be).

This isn't bias -- it's just a journalist doing her job.

Go Joy!

[Democrats_win]

33. Awesome! "Gish Gallop" indeed!

They're just throwing everything and anything at Hillary and see what sticks.

[wncHillsupport]

30. I just used the feedback page

to say that it is time for Andrea Mitchell to retire. I also noted that I know that cnn has programmed the younger journalists to also repeat all the Hillary "crimes" but still think Andrea has stayed past her welcome by viewers.

[Democrats_win]

32. CNN should not have Trump's idiot surrogates on.

They are an insult to our intelligence. I rarely watch CNN because of the danger of seeing a Trump surrogate.

[lillypaddle]

34. Excellent

good for you!

[Adrahil]

35. I told I will not watch...

...so long as they have Corey Lewandowski and they allow Trump surrogates to blatantly lie.

That place is full of talking heads pretending to be journalists.

[CajunBlazer]

37. Complaints on DU are fine, but what have you done to change the situation?

[Upthevibe]

41. Thank you for letting us know. I've been trying to figure out what can be done. Not only will

I complain on CNN's feedback page, I'll try to see if MSNBC has one as well. The media is out of control like I've never seen. We have Chris Hayes, Rachel, and Lawrence from 5p.m. on, but all day
the hosts they have in many cases are dispiciable. I seriously don't know what to think. I'm into energy and it's effect on each other and ourselves. I can't imagine what it would be like to be Hillary and to have this much hate directed towards her.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. Note their sponsors and complain to them.

[elias7]

44. The problem is the surrogate system.

Great letter, BTW

I'd rather see a discourse between thinkers seeking the truth rather than of partisans seeking to convince.

[BlueInPhilly]

49. CNN is headed by Zucker

who was head of NBC and green lighted The Apprentice. He and Trump are long time friends.

I used to watch CNN a lot, but after their 2012 bias, I stopped. All the good reporters and anchors are gone. CNN is a shell of itself.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

50. I don't understand all the negativity towards CNN

I watch CNN for news exclusively. I have it on ALL DAY and night unless I am watching something special. They are NOT anti-Clinton or pro-Trump. They just attempt to be impartial while reporting things. The Trump surrogates that come on there are idiots, yes, but they don't go unchallenged and if anything, I get the impression that the reporters all favor Hillary.

I am a registered Independent swing voter from a battleground state. I am voting for Hillary and think Trump is disgusting. CNN is where I get my news. If they were overtly pro-Clinton and anti-Trump I would NOT trust their reporting. Their type of coverage is HELPFUL to Hillary's candidacy because they are NOT biased and she is the better candidate.

[CajunBlazer]

52. I watch CNN all of the time and I agree fully with all of your points

I am a steadfast Democrat, but I think some people prefer their news pre-chewed and put through a liberal or conservative strainer.

[BlueInPhilly]

53. Remember this?

http://gawker.com/cnn-mistakes-isis-style-dildo-flag-at-pride-parade-for-1714409153

When CNN broke the news "that an ISIS flag was present at London's gay parade"? Instead it was dildos. What impressed upon me was the culture of breaking news and scooping other journalists for exclusives.

Well, Trump is CNN's new dildo. Beat reporters run to get the "exclusive" because that's what their producers have asked them to do. Only to find out that the "exclusive" is really a flag of dildos.