While the Beat the Press media punditry traded barbs and elevated their own insights about who does and doesn’t deserve to be included in the gubernatorial debates that help determine who will be our next governor, there was only one clear voice among them who spoke up unequivocally for the voters’ right to decide, and that was Callie Crossley.
Continue reading Thanks Callie Crossley, for standing up for democracy!Media Exclusion
Boston public radio station WBUR entered the debate this week over whether or not ballot-qualified candidate Dr. Jill Stein was worthy for inclusion in the gubernatorial debates.
In Controversy Grows Over Excluding ‘Outsider’ Candidates From Debates, WBUR features this nails-on-chalkboard quote from its own big-d Democratic political analyst, Dan Payne:
Because Jill Stein will get one quarter of the time and camera and she has not a million-to-one chance to become governor. For her to be given a seat at the table is unfair to the voters, who will then have to wade through the clutter of a fourth candidate in the race.
My question to WBUR: care to hire me as your Green-Rainbow Party political analyst? Who the hell appointed him as a guardian and protector of “the voters”?
Continue reading Ralph Nader says Stein “should be in the debates”Originally posted at Open Media Boston
by Jason Pramas (Staff), Sep-10-10
It’s not usually the practice of this publication to spend much time in our weekly editorials sniping at the flaws of other Boston news media. Perhaps if we start up a media review column at some point, we’ll do some more regular critiques of our big sibling local news outlets, but it hasn’t been a priority for us primarily because Open Media Boston was not founded to be a reactive publication. We like to offer constructive criticism on issues of the day, but in doing so we really like get at discussions of what a better Boston (and better world) might look like, and how regular people might work together to build that better future. Nevertheless, sometimes the mainstream media screws up in a way that’s impossible for us to ignore, and we’ll weigh in on it. This is one of those times. To wit, on Tuesday the first televised gubernatorial debate was held on WBZ Channel 4. To its sponsors’ credit, all 4 candidates – Gov. Deval Patrick (D), Charlie Baker (R), Tim Cahill (I), and Jill Stein (G-R) – participated. And all did a credible job. In my opinion, Patrick and Baker both did very well in the back-and-forth. Cahill and Stein were both more shaky in their delivery – with Stein perhaps more articulate and better prepared on issues. However, to read the debate coverage in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald the next day, you’d think that Cahill and Stein had barely said a word. Cahill got some extra coverage in the Globe later in the week, and has gotten more attention in other media all along. But Stein has been largely rendered mute.
Continue reading Editorial: Jill Stein Deserves More Visibility in Mass. Gubernatorial Debate CoverageFrom the Stein for Governor campaign:
The 9-member Boston media consortium sent a letter to Jill Stein today telling her that they intended to exclude her from their upcoming televised debates. The letter, signed by Jen Peter of the Boston Globe, said that “Jill Stein does not meet the criteria for participation”.
Upon being informed of the letter, Stein responded “The people of this Commonwealth deserve to hear about how badly the Beacon Hill establishment has failed them under both Democratic and Republican governors. They deserve to hear from the one candidate who isn’t taking money from the lobbyists or from the favor-seeking CEO’s. They deserve to hear from the one candidate who is advocating for secure jobs across the Commonwealth – not just low wage casino jobs in three communities – for universal health care, for comprehensive fair tax reform and for ending the wars that consume 10 million Massachusetts federal tax dollars each day. These badly needed solutions will assuredly be ignored in the debates if we let the three establishment candidates crowd me off the stage.”
Continue reading Media Consortium attempting to exclude Stein from debates