An Open Letter to Tom Brokaw

Dear Mr. Brokaw,
Your statement regarding writers as an attempt to "demonize" CBS and Rather on the Internet, where complaints about the report first surfaced are unfair and biased. You said the criticism "goes well beyond any factual information." Rather did use forged documents. His fact finding or that of his producer was very selective and therefore biased to support his view. He spent many days defending a story without any factual proof. Your comments go "well beyond any factual information."
Don Hewitt said he would never have aired the story.

Dan Rather may be your friend and colleague, so I can understand you may desire to offer him support. This cannot be accomplished by denigrating those who took the time to debunk Rather's presentation. You offer no new facts to support your statement, you merely attack the people who use the internet for their source of news. Do you wonder why so many of us seek out information on our own? Are you aware that there is a very large group of highly intelligent and educated persons who will no longer accept what is presented as news to be factual with all sides presented? The bias and selective reporting done by the main stream media is not honoring its commitment to us. We get news you deem worthwhile to report.and the slant of the news is soon apparent to anyone watching for a few nights.

You further insult internet users by saying, "What I think is highly inappropriate is what going on across the Internet, a kind of political jihad ... that is quite outrageous," You sir are the one who is outrageous. You wrote a book about "The Greatest Generation", and during that time we had news people who told the truth. My husband was part of that generation. My brother in law gave his life in that war. I lived through that war. You sir, are obviously not part of that generation. They fought for Americans, not against them. The whole country stood with our troops and our leaders. We sacrificed in many ways so that our troops would have whatever they needed. Women went to work and the older children took over much of the home management.

The America I love has made many negative changes and I blame the mass media for much of this. The internet allows us to connect with the elements we treasure and to those whose beliefs are what made this country strong. Now you dare call us jihadists because we stand up for what we believe in and refuse to swallow the pap that is presented to us as news. Could you have thought of a more derogatory word to belittle us? In this day of terrorists killing people in the most bestial manner to fulfill a jihad, this is your comparison. Shame on you. You are no longer a seeker of truth or a guardian of journalistic ethics.

Obviously, I am a senior citizen but that does not mean I am no longer a sentient being. I believe in what America was and what it could be again. I am delighted to find young people who are using their minds to fact check and to use their wide range of knowledge and skills. I am glad for the middle aged and the senior citizens who can add something from their years of life experience. I am in awe of the knowledge base represented by the well known bloggers and columnists. I would be hard pressed to find one media person who has such a wide range of knowledge.

Perhaps, the networks will realize that they are no longer meeting the needs of the public and will replace both you and Dan Rather with journalists who present fair coverage of what is news. Perhaps, if they hire people with integrity, they will keep their personal views out of news segments. Or perhaps, I will continue to get my news via the internet where I have contact with people in Britain, Kuwait, Egypt and Iraq. For political news, there is always Cspan which fortunately does not interrupt every event with the talking heads telling us what we are seeing and what we should be thinking.

Sincerely,
Pat in NC