Dear Dr Fitrakis and members of Columbus Free Press:
Perhaps you heard on WCBE a recent news story about Howard Dean's visit to
Ohio and his discussion of the immense corruption of Ohio's Republican
Party. The reporter was Natalie Walston and as of yet, I am not sure who
is responsible for that story but it was a horrid example of journalism
that has got me thinking. In short, Walston made an unnecessary
description of Dean by referring to his infamous "I have a Dream" speech
which essentially sunk his campaign. Walston's story even included an
excerpt of the speech. Given the stated content of the story, the
reference to the "Scream" speech was entirely unnecessary and clearly
meant to discredit him.
I later called Walston and asked her why she included this reference and
she responded, "...he had a calmer voice this time." I then responded,
"Oh come on..." and then she hung up on me!
I am quite shocked at the tabloid level of reporting that this represents
and it really makes me wonder if this is simply base journalism meant to
entertain the masses or even worse, representing that "Statehouse News
Bureau" is in cahouts with the Republican party. And this is the
so-called "liberal media" NPR!! lol!
Best regards, Lowell Lybarger
Here is the URL and downloadable audio version of story. Try to save the
entire file to your computer for future reference:
"Howard Dean, State Democrats Call For Reforms
by Natalie Walston - January 18, 2006
http://statenews.org/story_page.cfm?ID=8872&year=2006&month=1