Wow. Some of these editors are getting really antsy!

[oxbow]

I wrote the LA times asking them to followup on the 89 senators who asked * about the Downing st. memo, and this was the response I got:



Dear SIr or Madam:
Whoever told you to send this message apparently didn't bother to find out that the Los Angeles Times has already written the first story on the British memo to appear in any major American newspaper -- and we did it two days ago.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-memogate12may12,1,7966962.story
Best wishes
xxxx xxxxxx



Here's my reply back:



Dear Mr xxxxxx,

Thank you for responding to my email. I was aware of the LA times article on the Downing street memo, and appreciate your paper's initiative in covering this important story. My questions are more about why this memo contradicts the findings of the presidential commission and others' investigations into Iraq Intelligence failures. Specifically, why did those panels find no evidence of politicization or manipulation of the information used in the runup for war, when the UK memo suggests that this was precisely what happenned? In short, I am asking for more investigative journalism, for the next level of inquiry on this story. I understand that this can be difficult, given the degree of secrecy in government today, but as a leading member of the free press, I thought I would ask your establishment anyway.

As I wrote before, perhaps one of the Congressmen who signed that letter asking President Bush for answers would be willing to shed some more light on what this memo means for our nation, and why we are in Iraq at the moment. At the least, they could offer a valuable opinion piece for your editorial page

[Gloria]

1. Well done response!!!!

eom

[oxbow]

3. Is it radical to ask reporters to do their jobs?

...to paraphrase Bill "the cat surgeon" Frist.

Somehow I doubt he'll write me back though. It would be too much trouble for them to do their own investigative journalism. Much easier to just regurgitate 10 day old news from other newspapers.

[orleans]

11. hehehe "bill "the cat surgeon" frist" !

i sent a letter to chicago trib and chicago sun times. maybe i should check my email.

[JohnyCanuck]

26. Typical pattern of the lamestream, corporate media.

A negative news story comes out on Bush and his gang of war criminals and war profiteers and the media covers the story - once. After that, it is ignored and there is no further investigation or follow up reporting that would keep the story alive. This just gives them the minimum cover needed so that when when they are accused of being establishment tools and corporate media whores for not covering a particular Bush administration scandal they can say,"That's not true. We did cover that story and it was reported on in our newspaper, but the public wasn't interested in it and it became a non issue."

It looks so far like the LA Times is just keeping their fingers crossed that they can get away with this same approach on the memo story.

[Terre]

34. In other words

the reply you got was basically saying:

"We already covered our ass reported on this story, you numnut."

People, investigative journalism has died, so now it's left to us to pick up the torch.

[iconoclastic cat]

2. Dear whores,

I have five dollars. Since I already know that you will take it, please publish a story in which:
A. your editor fellates me wearing a peacock costume while humming various classic Iron Maiden riffs
B. your entire cadre of columnists is relocated to a meticulously reconstructed replica of Fantasy Island
or, C. you personally join me in a tub full of gelatin, where we will parody Gogol's The Nose; you will play a proctologist and I will play the boil on Rush's ass. You will beg me to return.

[oxbow]

6. Ha!

Love the pic. My cats prefer a nice glass of Pinot Noir (though I haven't caught the bastards sneaking sips just yet)

[FizzFuzz]

8. Hilarious! I enjoyed that~

And the kitty is cute too!

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. OT, but you MUST see the beer-swigging cat in this DUer's animation:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3655133&mesg_id=3655180

[orleans]

10. which paper will you be submitting your "letter to the editor"?

[iconoclastic cat]

13. I was hoping to have Michelle Malkin recite it at her speech to NAMBLA.

[orleans]

14. HAHAHAHAHA!

(you're damn funny tonight! and i sincerely mean that)
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Swamp Rat]

23. LOL!

:rofl:

[Hissyspit]

4. Yeah, they wanted to get their point across, but very good civil response

You did sign it right?

[Hissyspit]

5. Nominated by the way...

[oxbow]

7. Oh I signed it

With x's and o's even. You all know how much I love our dear liberal media.

[gratuitous]

12. "Whoever told you to send this message"

Good for you for not rising to their obvious bait. Stay on them. You've raised a perfectly valid point that ought to occur to any first year journalism student based on this memo. The LA Times, a good newspaper by all accounts, should be running with this ball themselves, but if it requires a little goose from their readers to get them to do their jobs, so be it.

[althecat]

15. My that is touchy.... we are a force to be reckoned with it seems

.. even the LATimes quakes at our key strokes.

[progressoid]

16. excellent response

keep their feet to the fire.

[Stephanie]

17. The ASSUMPTION that you wrote because you were TOLD to write

is beyond offensive. Who do they imagine told you to write a letter? Why do they assume that you are unable to read and write for yourself? Is only the pundit class allowed to participate in the national dialogue? The condescension and disrespect in that brief but rude response is outrageous. I wonder who the LA Times imagines their readers to be, if this is how they speak to them.

[acmejack]

27. Indeed, if this is an example of their thinking

It becomes obvious why the media is so screwed up. Perhaps they need a refresher on "assuming". Better yet a repeat of Journalism 101 and a little brushing up on community relations wouldn't hurt the snarky asses either!

[shance]

18. Great response Oxbow. Good for you to reply**

and thank ya for sharing. :)

[Straight Shooter]

19. A most excellent and mature response. Proof positive you're a Dem.

I hope they passed your letter around and all said, "Hmmmm. What do you think? Should we go for it?"

I think you might have poked a hole in the dam with your letter. Brilliant!

[LibDemAlways]

20. The generic "Dear Sir or Madam"

suggests they've received many similar letters and this was their form response. It was very rude to have started "Whoever told you to send this message..." That's extremely presumptuous and arrogant. I'd call their asses on it by writing a letter to the publisher expressing my disgust at their shitty attitude and sending it snailmail and marked "Personal."

I cancelled my LA Times subscription 4 years ago when they paired a hatchet job on Hillary with a puff piece on Pickles. I wrote a nasty letter to the publisher explaining why I had cancelled and received a phone call from a staffer begging me to reconsider. I told them to stuff it.

[oxbow]

28. I might just take you up on that suggestion

Time is of the essence here, so I'll have to get right on it. I'm not really concerned about the guy's attitude, my skin is thicker than that. However, I would like more coverage of this story (duh!)

I think the "Sir or Madam" was because I have a rather uncommon name, so I'm not too offended by that either. What bothers me is that he didn't read beyond the first sentence of my letter, which basically laid out that I wanted to hear more about this UK memo.

[TacticalPeek]

21. Eggsellent.

:kick:

[funflower]

22. Outstanding! Very informed and polite response to a rather

presumptious letter. Of course, I never get anything more than an auto-generated response....

[ananda]

24. media sucks

That's why I never pay for MSN or TV... only for dialup internet access.

Sue

[funflower]

35. Me, too. No cable. Only broadband because I use it for work.

[StaggerLee]

25. good

You kept it together and I find that very admirable. I think I would have flipped out if I'd have received a response like that.

(Flipped out in the inside but with the rage of a thousand disenfranchised caffeine deficient voters)

:hi:

[hvn_nbr_2]

29. "We covered it two days ago"

How long and how often did you "cover" Clinton's blowjob? What is the relative importance of lies about blowjobs and lies to start a war? How many times did you ask how many follow-up questions about each? How many lives and how many billions of dollars did each cost? How many days have each been on the front page of your newspaper? Do you think that those answers indicate responsbible journalism and mature judgment of what issues are important?

[progressivebydesign]

30. Dear Oxbow,

Journalism is dead.

best wishes,
the mainstream media.

[rndmprsn]

31. high-five

nicely done.

[seventythree]

32. wonderful!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

33. My letter to the NYT, and their response...

To
<[e-mail]>

Subject
Well, I hear you are moving farther to the Right!

Dear editors,

NYT was one of the last print newspapers to at least make a show of being central. I’ve been getting your daily headlines by e-mail for 2 years. I just unsubscribed. Perhaps in the future you will realize we want truth in journalism, not pandering to one side or the other.

Thank you.

name removed
Portland, OR


reply>>>

Dear < >,

If you want to reference a specific article demonstrating your concern we'll look into it.

Joe Plambeck
Office of the Public Editor
The New York Times


I should have referenced the articles concerning this when I wrote, but I was at work. I'm crafting a reply now that will include them. They need to know that we are paying attention, and will be holding them accountable to upholding journalistic standards.

[oxbow]

37. hell yea! Tell us what they say

The fact that we're getting these personal responses says something to me. Namely, that they are concerned with falling profits and declining readership. Let's see if some of them figure out that we're the real bottom line!

[grasswire]

36. "whoever asked you........??"

Screw them all. They're irrelevant.